For several years now I've been telling myself "I need to climb..." or "I need to go back to...". The list has grown while I have not been diligently whittling away at it. Last year I did climb two of the High Peaks but the 'to-do' list grew by more than 2 so I'm further in the hole. So far the list has only been in my head and thus easy to forget about. This year I'm writing it out and checking things off. Hopefully by being more organized I'll get them done. My list so far:
Mountains - Hurricane, Noonmark, Spreadeagle/Hopkins/Baxter and Algonquin. I want to be on Algonquin when the mountain azalea is in bloom. I tried last year on Marcy but the one I'd seen there 8 years earlier was no longer there. I also want to climb Rocky Peak Ridge from Rt.9N in autumn when the leaves are turned and Colden via the slide over Avalanche Pass if that is possible.
Hikes - I want to spend a long day photographing around Avalanche Lake and on the Opalescent River above Lake Colden. Another long day on the West River Trail to Rainbow Falls. I'd like to climb Pyramid and shoot a panorama of the Great Range but that is a bit of a stretch so I probably won't get to that this year. I want to photograph Wanika Falls which may get rolled into an NPT hike. I've been meaning to hike the NPT for several years but haven't. A thru-hike would be my preference but I may do a 2 part section hike, Northville to Rt.28 then Rt.28 to Lake Placid.
That's a lot for one year. When I started listing it off to Diane, she asked if she would need an appointment to see me this summer or fall. It is unlikely that I'll get to all of them but the list is going up and waiting to be checked off. Check back in late Oct./early Nov. to see how I did.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
The Rage Over AIG
I read in the paper that Mr. Liddy and some of his staff have received death threats over the awarding of fat bonuses to the traders who caused the crash of the company. He came out of retirement and took on the job of guiding AIG out of the mess for a token salary of $1/year. The contracts in question were not written on his watch and he told the congressional committee that he took offense at the tone of their questioning.
I sympathize with him. When I worked in unemployment insurance during the downturn of the 80s I got at least one death threat (there were others that were implied but not explicitly stated). It is unnerving to have someone tell you they will kill you if you don't do what they want and I do not for a moment condone violence as a solution. That being said, what was he thinking? My father-in-law, a very practical man, once observed that there is nothing less common than common sense and lately those in high places seem determined to prove him right.
If Mr. Liddy really didn't think it was right, if he really found it distasteful, why didn't he refuse to honor the bonus provisions and make his refusal public? Had he done that, instead of him taking the heat for this debacle, those who tried suing to enforce the contracts would be getting blasted for their audacity in demanding to be rewarded for their malfeasance. Their names would be public, the outrage would be properly directed at those who deserve it. Mr. Liddy would be held in high regard for taking an honorable, if legally tenuous, stand. Is he really so naive that he did not foresee that the taxpaying public would be outraged? Where is his common sense?
I sympathize with him. When I worked in unemployment insurance during the downturn of the 80s I got at least one death threat (there were others that were implied but not explicitly stated). It is unnerving to have someone tell you they will kill you if you don't do what they want and I do not for a moment condone violence as a solution. That being said, what was he thinking? My father-in-law, a very practical man, once observed that there is nothing less common than common sense and lately those in high places seem determined to prove him right.
If Mr. Liddy really didn't think it was right, if he really found it distasteful, why didn't he refuse to honor the bonus provisions and make his refusal public? Had he done that, instead of him taking the heat for this debacle, those who tried suing to enforce the contracts would be getting blasted for their audacity in demanding to be rewarded for their malfeasance. Their names would be public, the outrage would be properly directed at those who deserve it. Mr. Liddy would be held in high regard for taking an honorable, if legally tenuous, stand. Is he really so naive that he did not foresee that the taxpaying public would be outraged? Where is his common sense?
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Letter Writing Campaign
This morning I heard and read in several places that AIG is about to pay out 165 million in bonuses to the managers and executives who created the mess in that company. The bonuses will be paid out of the money that we taxpayers are giving AIG to bail them out so they don't fail and take the rest of the country down with them. According to what I read the bonuses are written into these employees contracts and AIG (and thus you & I) are legally bound to pay them. Further I am given to understand that Federal attorneys have looked at said contracts and agreed that they are indeed legally binding.
When I worked for the Dept. of Labor my salary, like all public employees, was public information. Since the taxpayers now own 80% of AIG I'm asking my congressman and senators to pass a bill stating that because these AIG execs are being paid out of public funds they should, like everyone else paid from public monies, have their names and the amounts of salary and bonus they receive from us the taxpayers released as public information, available to anyone who wants it. In fact I think that the web site that the Obama administration has established to show where the stimulus plan money is going would be the perfect place to list them all. I suggest to anyone reading this that you also write your Federal representatives (and the White House while you are at it) and suggest the same. If we're stuck with rewarding them for creating this mess perhaps we can at least shame them a bit for their greed.
When I worked for the Dept. of Labor my salary, like all public employees, was public information. Since the taxpayers now own 80% of AIG I'm asking my congressman and senators to pass a bill stating that because these AIG execs are being paid out of public funds they should, like everyone else paid from public monies, have their names and the amounts of salary and bonus they receive from us the taxpayers released as public information, available to anyone who wants it. In fact I think that the web site that the Obama administration has established to show where the stimulus plan money is going would be the perfect place to list them all. I suggest to anyone reading this that you also write your Federal representatives (and the White House while you are at it) and suggest the same. If we're stuck with rewarding them for creating this mess perhaps we can at least shame them a bit for their greed.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Getting Over the Hump
Wow, it has been over a month since I last posted anything. The doldrums of winter combined with economic doldrums are my excuse. I have had no enthusiasm for posting.
I've been reading about AIG and why we 'need' to save it from collapse. It seems that they are not just the largest insurance company in the world backing up millions of pension funds but they are diversified with fingers into all aspects of our economy. As one example the paper said that a subsidiary of AIG leases airplanes to most of the major airlines. If AIG goes broke, the subsidiary goes broke and the airlines go broke, etc. My son and daughter-in-law know about that kind of chain reaction. It wasn't many years back the (profitable) company they were working for went out of business because it was owned by a larger company that went bust and left them both out of work. It was a much smaller scale version the sort of what would happen if AIG goes down.
Diversification is a good thing if you are an investor or a small business. If one of your investments goes bad or one of your customers fails you have others to fall back on. Working in reverse however, a top down diversification of huge conglomerates apparently has the opposite effect of destroying the otherwise successful below it when the top fails. In my economically untrained opinion one of the things we should be looking at is limiting the size of companies so that none are allowed to get so big that if they fail they take the whole economy down with them.
Weatherwise Northern NY is seeing the start of the annual wrestling match between winter and spring. After a string of nights hovering around 0ºF (-18ºC) we had a couple of mild days where the high reached around 50ºF (10ºC) and then yesterday we enjoyed a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain. Over the course of the day I got to clean ice off the windshield three times. Oh joy. I'm looking forward to green shoots pushing out of the ground.
I've been reading about AIG and why we 'need' to save it from collapse. It seems that they are not just the largest insurance company in the world backing up millions of pension funds but they are diversified with fingers into all aspects of our economy. As one example the paper said that a subsidiary of AIG leases airplanes to most of the major airlines. If AIG goes broke, the subsidiary goes broke and the airlines go broke, etc. My son and daughter-in-law know about that kind of chain reaction. It wasn't many years back the (profitable) company they were working for went out of business because it was owned by a larger company that went bust and left them both out of work. It was a much smaller scale version the sort of what would happen if AIG goes down.
Diversification is a good thing if you are an investor or a small business. If one of your investments goes bad or one of your customers fails you have others to fall back on. Working in reverse however, a top down diversification of huge conglomerates apparently has the opposite effect of destroying the otherwise successful below it when the top fails. In my economically untrained opinion one of the things we should be looking at is limiting the size of companies so that none are allowed to get so big that if they fail they take the whole economy down with them.
Weatherwise Northern NY is seeing the start of the annual wrestling match between winter and spring. After a string of nights hovering around 0ºF (-18ºC) we had a couple of mild days where the high reached around 50ºF (10ºC) and then yesterday we enjoyed a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain. Over the course of the day I got to clean ice off the windshield three times. Oh joy. I'm looking forward to green shoots pushing out of the ground.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Tax Nightmare
Last year I registered to collect NYS sales tax so that I could sell photos at art & craft fairs. The fairs are not often a money making proposition by the time you subtract the booth fees, travel expense and materials costs. I know crafts people who have spent money and 2-3 days time only to sell less than it cost. The contact with the public and their reaction to your work however can be educational. As long as I break even I figure the input makes it worthwhile. But now I'm beginning to wonder.
At the end of the last quarter NYS switched to an on-line filing system for sales tax reports. I tried it several times only to be "locked out" and told to try again later. Several subsequent attempts were similarly unsucessful and the papers got set aside in frustration. Finally I did succeed and submitted a report that in the quarter in question I no sales and collected no taxes.
Now I have gotten a notice that because I submitted my report late I owe a $50 penalty and I must also submit proof that the $0 I owe has already been paid or send it with the penalty. If I do that late I can be assessed a $100 penalty. No wonder people think NYS is 'unfriendly to business'.
At the end of the last quarter NYS switched to an on-line filing system for sales tax reports. I tried it several times only to be "locked out" and told to try again later. Several subsequent attempts were similarly unsucessful and the papers got set aside in frustration. Finally I did succeed and submitted a report that in the quarter in question I no sales and collected no taxes.
Now I have gotten a notice that because I submitted my report late I owe a $50 penalty and I must also submit proof that the $0 I owe has already been paid or send it with the penalty. If I do that late I can be assessed a $100 penalty. No wonder people think NYS is 'unfriendly to business'.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Pondering A Day of Change
Tuesday, Inauguration Day 2009, was a most unusual day. It was something in the air, a mood, a sense that something ineffable had somehow shifted. Yes, there was the excitement about the first black president but it that wasn't it, that wasn't the real change. The real shift was something deeper. I remember the feeling from the '60s being similar but that was not as widespread. It was limited to a portion of the young in the US. I remember a similar feeling when the Berlin Wall came down but that too had it's limits. Yesterday the feeling was shared by people all over the world of all races, religions and nationalities. It felt like a real new beginning.
I confess that as I watched the proceedings and the celebrations I half expected them to be interrupted by a terrorist attack. Over six decades of life have taught me that there is always someone out there who is offended by others' happiness and will do whatever they can to disrupt it. I also recall how friends from the '60s turned cynical when the dreams of that era crumbled. And I know that only a bit over half the country voted for the change that happened yesterday but what I felt wasn't a political victory, it was a sense of possibility shining through all that negative history.
A line in the "Desiderata" says "...whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should." For a day, on Tuesday , it was clear.
I confess that as I watched the proceedings and the celebrations I half expected them to be interrupted by a terrorist attack. Over six decades of life have taught me that there is always someone out there who is offended by others' happiness and will do whatever they can to disrupt it. I also recall how friends from the '60s turned cynical when the dreams of that era crumbled. And I know that only a bit over half the country voted for the change that happened yesterday but what I felt wasn't a political victory, it was a sense of possibility shining through all that negative history.
A line in the "Desiderata" says "...whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should." For a day, on Tuesday , it was clear.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
A Tradition?
At least once a winter we get a cold snap that takes us below the -20º mark. We've already had two -18º mornings in the last couple of weeks and this morning we hit the -25º mark. It actually hit -26º about 20 minutes later but I wasn't about to set up the tripod again for one more, or rather one less degree. To the extent possible, I'm staying indoors today.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
A Techno-Cretan? Me?
I have joined Facebook. It was not by my own initiative. I've been accepted into an art marketing seminar series that is being conducted by NYFA. They are using a secret group* (shhh! Don't tell anyone) to communicate with/among participants between monthly sessions.
I had two prior invitations to join Facebook but not being a particularly social sort I had declined until it became a requirement for this seminar series. When I signed up the original invitations popped up again and I accepted them. Shortly thereafter more requests to be friends appeared. I'm already up to 11 'friends', some of whom I actually know (as in we've met face-to-face) while others I only know via email. If I passed some of them on the street I would not recognize them. The photos people attach often don't help in that respect. Some are full length portraits squeezed into a tiny little square, some backlit or fuzzy beyond recognition and some are drawings/photos of something the person likes or relates to rather than themselves. Being either old fashioned or egotistical (you decide which) I put up a head and shoulders shot of *me*. It is a version of the same image I have on my blog page. I just used different digital filters. It's been messed with but it still looks like me, perhaps a bit better than the real me.
I can see the value of a Facebook group for something like the NYFA seminar. I don't 'get' the attraction to Facebook as a general communication medium. There's something called "The Wall" (shades of Pink Floyd?) where I and apparently any of my Facebook friends can post anything but I also have a home page where friends post stuff too. I don't get the distinction. And then there is the question of what to post. Whenever I go to Facebook it asks what am I doing right now. Well DUH! I'm checking Facebook. I could tell it what I was doing before or what I might do after but at the moment... Frankly most of my day consists of boring or routine stuff that is of no interest to anyone else. Anything I think (in an egotistical moment) might be remotely interesting to anyone else I put here in the blog.
One part of my job in DOL was to be a network admin for field offices in three counties so I'm far from being technologically challenged. OTOH I don't see the attraction to posting random thoughts and actions on line for the world at large to read. When I was growing up the way of communicating was through letters. You had to write on paper, fold it up, put it in an envelop and mail it. I do like email because it is faster and I can reach people who may not be next to their phone (I don't like talking on the phone anyway so email is a good way to escape that) but the attraction of this constantly in touch, post the trivia of your day connection escapes me. How to use Facebook is part of what the seminar will cover. Maybe I'll learn to like it. We'll see. I hope in this seminar I learn to do a better job of marketing my photos. If so, it will be worth it. 'Right now' I have doubts.
* A "secret group" apparently is one that can only be joined by invitation and can be seen only by members.
I had two prior invitations to join Facebook but not being a particularly social sort I had declined until it became a requirement for this seminar series. When I signed up the original invitations popped up again and I accepted them. Shortly thereafter more requests to be friends appeared. I'm already up to 11 'friends', some of whom I actually know (as in we've met face-to-face) while others I only know via email. If I passed some of them on the street I would not recognize them. The photos people attach often don't help in that respect. Some are full length portraits squeezed into a tiny little square, some backlit or fuzzy beyond recognition and some are drawings/photos of something the person likes or relates to rather than themselves. Being either old fashioned or egotistical (you decide which) I put up a head and shoulders shot of *me*. It is a version of the same image I have on my blog page. I just used different digital filters. It's been messed with but it still looks like me, perhaps a bit better than the real me.
I can see the value of a Facebook group for something like the NYFA seminar. I don't 'get' the attraction to Facebook as a general communication medium. There's something called "The Wall" (shades of Pink Floyd?) where I and apparently any of my Facebook friends can post anything but I also have a home page where friends post stuff too. I don't get the distinction. And then there is the question of what to post. Whenever I go to Facebook it asks what am I doing right now. Well DUH! I'm checking Facebook. I could tell it what I was doing before or what I might do after but at the moment... Frankly most of my day consists of boring or routine stuff that is of no interest to anyone else. Anything I think (in an egotistical moment) might be remotely interesting to anyone else I put here in the blog.
One part of my job in DOL was to be a network admin for field offices in three counties so I'm far from being technologically challenged. OTOH I don't see the attraction to posting random thoughts and actions on line for the world at large to read. When I was growing up the way of communicating was through letters. You had to write on paper, fold it up, put it in an envelop and mail it. I do like email because it is faster and I can reach people who may not be next to their phone (I don't like talking on the phone anyway so email is a good way to escape that) but the attraction of this constantly in touch, post the trivia of your day connection escapes me. How to use Facebook is part of what the seminar will cover. Maybe I'll learn to like it. We'll see. I hope in this seminar I learn to do a better job of marketing my photos. If so, it will be worth it. 'Right now' I have doubts.
* A "secret group" apparently is one that can only be joined by invitation and can be seen only by members.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
From Pinkney #9 to 2009
We did see in 2009 last night. Diane & I were reading in bed when I looked at the clock and saw it was midnight. I wished her a happy new year with a kiss (our 43rd new year together) and we read for a bit longer before turning out the light. We didn't watch the ball drop. Crystal balls are supposed to tell the future and dropping the ball is symbolic of a blunder. I've never been able to understand why dropping a crystal ball became the way to start a new year.
In the wee hours of the morning I dreamed of driving down the Whitesville Rd. past my 1st school, Pinkney #9 (grades 1-6, fall 1950 through spring 1956). In the dream it was still there although I know the building is long gone along with "the farm" which is what we called the place we lived. We didn't farm the land though unless chickens are enough to make a farm all by themselves. As we drove by Pinkney #9 in my lucid dream* I noticed that the front door was open and someone was using the building as an antique shop. We stopped and I toured the place. It was spruced up a bit but the charred wood still showed around where we once had a chimney fire from the Round Oak stove. The outhouses were still there off either side of the woodshed, girls on the left, boys on the right. I chatted with the owner about going to school there, fetching drinking water from the spring down the road every morning, sledding in the winter and skinny dipping in the brook across the road in spring & fall. A pleasant dream of days gone.
I began the morning by cleaning the pellet stove. Our daughter phoned and in response to my sung "Happy new year to you" she replied "happy arbitrarily designated point in time" which brings up another thing I've never understood about new years. Why does the new year begin over a week after the winter solstice? Logically it should begin at the point when the cycle of days getting longer again begins. Oh well, happy arbitrarily designated point in time to one and all. May 2009 be a great year for you even if it is 10 days late relative to the Sun.
*A lucid dream is one in which you are aware that you are dreaming but continue to dream, consciously controlling the dream as it goes. It's sort of like a daydream but you are asleep.
In the wee hours of the morning I dreamed of driving down the Whitesville Rd. past my 1st school, Pinkney #9 (grades 1-6, fall 1950 through spring 1956). In the dream it was still there although I know the building is long gone along with "the farm" which is what we called the place we lived. We didn't farm the land though unless chickens are enough to make a farm all by themselves. As we drove by Pinkney #9 in my lucid dream* I noticed that the front door was open and someone was using the building as an antique shop. We stopped and I toured the place. It was spruced up a bit but the charred wood still showed around where we once had a chimney fire from the Round Oak stove. The outhouses were still there off either side of the woodshed, girls on the left, boys on the right. I chatted with the owner about going to school there, fetching drinking water from the spring down the road every morning, sledding in the winter and skinny dipping in the brook across the road in spring & fall. A pleasant dream of days gone.
I began the morning by cleaning the pellet stove. Our daughter phoned and in response to my sung "Happy new year to you" she replied "happy arbitrarily designated point in time" which brings up another thing I've never understood about new years. Why does the new year begin over a week after the winter solstice? Logically it should begin at the point when the cycle of days getting longer again begins. Oh well, happy arbitrarily designated point in time to one and all. May 2009 be a great year for you even if it is 10 days late relative to the Sun.
*A lucid dream is one in which you are aware that you are dreaming but continue to dream, consciously controlling the dream as it goes. It's sort of like a daydream but you are asleep.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Servant or Master
Time for another opinion piece. In this morning's paper George Will laments the return of government "interference" in the economy. In that same morning paper is an article which claims that Charles Dickens characterization of the poor diet of children in workhouses (Oliver Twist) is wrong. Recent studies has shown that the "recommended" diet was significantly more nutritious than that portrayed in Dickens' novel. Less than currently recommended but "adequate". So what do the two have in common? It is a matter of who's holding the reins.
Several years ago Dr David Suzuki, the Canadian scientist/TV host of The Nature of Things, made a TV special called Suzuki Speaks which presented his views on the interaction of the economy and the ecology. In it he makes the case for humans place in and as part of nature and contends that purpose of "the economy" is to serve the needs of people. It is, or should be the medium by which we distribute the goods and services we need to live together as a society. He argues however that "the economy" has become an end in itself, a thing which the people serve through their work and consumerism. An excerpt from his talk is avaliable on YouTube or a slightly longer excerpt at Link TV. A DVD or download of the full talk is available at Avanti Pictures. I believe that this talk is as important to the future of the world as "An Inconvenient Truth".
George Will and other free market capitalists argue that the markets, left to their own devices, are self correcting and that government interference only prolongs the existence of businesses that should go out of business. That's true if, as Dr. Suzuki contends, we are servants of the economy. If the economy is in charge and the role of humans is to feed it through their labor and consumption then market forces should be allowed to run their course unimpeded by government regulation. There are problems with that idea though.
The first problem is like the problem in saying Dickens got the diet of children in workhouses wrong because the recommended diet was actually adequate. Even the authors of the quoted study admit that maybe not all workhouses followed the recommendations. Well, DUH! History is loaded with examples of people not doing things in the recommended way. We've recently been treated to the results of people not following recommendations in the financial markets to the detriment of everyone in society.
The larger problem is, as Dr. Suzuki contends, a matter of putting the cart before the horse. We create the economy to serve us. Free market economists argue that in a free market everyone will prosper, the old "a rising tide floats all boats" idea, but putting the functioning of the economy ahead of the purpose it is meant to serve is backwards. The business world is fond of mission statements as a means of measuring success. We need to find a way to make the economic system serve us, to provide for our needs first and desires after. We need to have the mission of the economy to serve us, not itself. I highly recommend Dr. Susuki's full talk, either the download or the DVD. The download will play only on the computer it is downloaded to (unless they've changed it since I got a copy several years ago).
I will add the caveat that government can be as guilty of putting the bureaucracy or institution ahead of the mission as business. Both are human institutions. Both require some supervision by those they serve to keep them on course. Hopefully the recent election was just such a course correction. I believe it was even if Mr. Will does not. The important thing is to remember that all human institutions exist to serve us, not the reverse. Remember that the next time you are instructed to "go out and buy stuff" or told that preserving the environment will damage the economy. It isn't about the economy, it's about people.
Several years ago Dr David Suzuki, the Canadian scientist/TV host of The Nature of Things, made a TV special called Suzuki Speaks which presented his views on the interaction of the economy and the ecology. In it he makes the case for humans place in and as part of nature and contends that purpose of "the economy" is to serve the needs of people. It is, or should be the medium by which we distribute the goods and services we need to live together as a society. He argues however that "the economy" has become an end in itself, a thing which the people serve through their work and consumerism. An excerpt from his talk is avaliable on YouTube or a slightly longer excerpt at Link TV. A DVD or download of the full talk is available at Avanti Pictures. I believe that this talk is as important to the future of the world as "An Inconvenient Truth".
George Will and other free market capitalists argue that the markets, left to their own devices, are self correcting and that government interference only prolongs the existence of businesses that should go out of business. That's true if, as Dr. Suzuki contends, we are servants of the economy. If the economy is in charge and the role of humans is to feed it through their labor and consumption then market forces should be allowed to run their course unimpeded by government regulation. There are problems with that idea though.
The first problem is like the problem in saying Dickens got the diet of children in workhouses wrong because the recommended diet was actually adequate. Even the authors of the quoted study admit that maybe not all workhouses followed the recommendations. Well, DUH! History is loaded with examples of people not doing things in the recommended way. We've recently been treated to the results of people not following recommendations in the financial markets to the detriment of everyone in society.
The larger problem is, as Dr. Suzuki contends, a matter of putting the cart before the horse. We create the economy to serve us. Free market economists argue that in a free market everyone will prosper, the old "a rising tide floats all boats" idea, but putting the functioning of the economy ahead of the purpose it is meant to serve is backwards. The business world is fond of mission statements as a means of measuring success. We need to find a way to make the economic system serve us, to provide for our needs first and desires after. We need to have the mission of the economy to serve us, not itself. I highly recommend Dr. Susuki's full talk, either the download or the DVD. The download will play only on the computer it is downloaded to (unless they've changed it since I got a copy several years ago).
I will add the caveat that government can be as guilty of putting the bureaucracy or institution ahead of the mission as business. Both are human institutions. Both require some supervision by those they serve to keep them on course. Hopefully the recent election was just such a course correction. I believe it was even if Mr. Will does not. The important thing is to remember that all human institutions exist to serve us, not the reverse. Remember that the next time you are instructed to "go out and buy stuff" or told that preserving the environment will damage the economy. It isn't about the economy, it's about people.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
0ºF and Snowing... Again!
No morning paper today. It comes from 80 miles South of us and apparently the weather is so bad down that way the papers couldn't get out of town. That happens 2-3 times each winter. The title of this post is our weather this morning. Forget the White Christmas part. We already have that. I'm dreaming of a super-insulated house with a garage so I don't have to clean off the cars after every storm.
It isn't snowing hard here (yet) but the forecast is for it to continue into tomorrow morning and to total as much as a foot. The mountains South & East of here could see 14" or more.
There's frost on my windows again and I shot another round of frost pattern photos but decided instead to share a shot of Diane's bromeliad which is in full bloom right next to one of those frost covered panes.
Addendum: We watched "Sunday Morning" (recorded so we can skip the ads) and throughout the program there was a banner streaming across the bottom listing the churches that were canceling morning services. I feel sorry for all those who are trying to travel this weekend. This is shaping up to be a good Christmas to stay home.
It isn't snowing hard here (yet) but the forecast is for it to continue into tomorrow morning and to total as much as a foot. The mountains South & East of here could see 14" or more.
Addendum: We watched "Sunday Morning" (recorded so we can skip the ads) and throughout the program there was a banner streaming across the bottom listing the churches that were canceling morning services. I feel sorry for all those who are trying to travel this weekend. This is shaping up to be a good Christmas to stay home.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Visitors
We have several bird feeders and this year a pair of cardinals come around occasionally. They are very skittish and therefore difficult to photograph. The wreath hanging over the window on the kitchen door doesn't make it any easier nor does the fact that they seem to feed at dusk when the light is fading but today I did manage to get passable photos of each of them. Meet Mr. & Mrs. Cardinal.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Christmas Card
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Our son asked if we got hit by the huge ice storm that has been on the news. We did not. All we got was a tiny amount of freezing rain mixed into about 4-5 inches of snow. There is some ice on the trees but that is left from an earlier weather system. It did not warm up enough between the two for that ice to melt and this morning it was about -13°F here so it won't be melting soon. It is up to about 0°F now. For those readers who might not know, "here" is near Potsdam, NY, North and West of the Adirondack Park.
No one asked for photos but y'all are getting one anyway :-) The photo above is the frost on one pane of our front hall window. Be sure to click on it for a larger view. There is no storm window on that one and we don't heat the hall so I got several frost pattern photos this morning. Ian, you get to enjoy looking at frost without being cold. Enjoy.
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