Winter

I find winter boring. I’m not into winter sports – I’m not into summer sports either, but that’s another topic. Winter is cold and dangerous. At least it is here in Michigan. The snow makes driving slick and dangerous. We had a rather heavy snowfall the day after Christmas in 2012. It really wasn’t that bad a snowstorm for my area, but it did make driving dangerous. I had to be on the road with the snowplows as I was working in Southfield at the time. Snow covered roads can be slick. I only travelled at posted speeds once on the entire trip home. I mostly stayed at around thirty mile per hour. It took me eight minutes to clean off my car and around forty-five minutes to get home. Usually, at that time of night, it only takes about thirty to thirty-five minutes to make the drive. As I said, it wasn’t that bad for my area.

There were areas that got more snow, usually from the lake effect where a storm picks up moisture from crossing one of the great lakes and dumps it in the form of snow on some poor community. At least we didn’t get tornados, as they did in the South in that same storm system.

For the most part, unless you ice skate, sled, or ski, winter is a time for staying indoors. I spend my off work hours trying to stay warm. In my house, that’s not so easy. Obviously, we need better insulation. It doesn’t help when critters get into the false chimney of the house and set up housekeeping. They aren’t very quiet animals. They are, in fact, rather noisy creatures. I think they are raccoons, but I am no certain. The one I saw on the chimney a few days ago was indistinct in the twilight. I’m sure it was either a raccoon or a large cat. My money is on it being a raccoon. We need to evict it and put a cap on that false chimney. We need to fix the chimney and have it draw, as it should. Then we could put one of those easy light logs in there and have a fire in the fireplace some time.

That’s what winter is in my house, in my memory, I should say. My parents used to have fires in the fireplace; it quite warmed the house up. Well, that room of the house, the rest of the house didn’t feel the warmth as much. The thermostat for the furnace is in that room. The fireplace would warm the living room and the thermostat would not trigger a need for the furnace. So the rest of the house would cool down. Still, the family gathered by the fireplace in the living room, and enjoyed the fire and the TV. Somewhere in the years, we stopped doing that. I can’t think why, unless my dad just got too old. Now winter is just boring.

I used to go sledding when I was a kid. I remember taking a toboggan down a slope on my own – never do that. I nearly crashed head first into the only tree on the entire slope. Always check your intended path. I fell and pinched a nerve in my shoulder while learning to ice skate. Perhaps I lack the gene for winter sports. I was never brave enough to try skiing. I prefer swimming to skating or sledding. I am a water baby, not a snow bunny.

About pebblepup

I am not one who is comfortable talking about myself but here goes. I enjoy writing, family history, and reading. I decided to do this blog because I wanted to try something new. I decided to make it a weekly blog because I wasn't sure that I could keep up with a daily one, and monthly seemed like I was writing a magazine. I think I did ok with my choices. You'll notice that there are not a lot of graphics on my site. That's because there are graphics plastered everywhere on the Internet and those sites sometimes take forever to load. This blog is a place where you can kick back, relax and be ready to be amused. At least I hope I willbamuse you. This blog is on a variety of subjects from my ficitional cat agency, the FFL, which is monthly, to instructional blogs to editorials, which are my opinions only. I admit that I don't know everything and could be wrong -- I frequently am. Now, stop reading about me and read what I have to say!