Sunday, 16 January 2011
We are now in melty-land.
Proof? The photo above is today, the oval at Piedmont Park. The photo below—yesterday (note the moon!).
During my walks, I had often noted the north- and/or northwest side of buildings, which in summer is the cool place with near all-day shadow. Now those are the not-yet-melted spots. Which, of course, stands to reason; it’s just that the seasonal comparison is rarely apparent.
Saturday, 15 January 2011
The low temps have changed Lake Clara Meer’s algae into crystal-sorted art. I especially like the spikey shapes mixed with the leaves and the melt-water.
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
We carefully adventured out in the 4×4, mostly for our own entertainment (apologies for self-centered behavior). Note that we waited until the sun had been out for a while and the melting (such as it is) begun. (Plus, we had to move our buggy out of its temporary spot in the neighbors’ driveway….)
We went the long way around to TJs* avoiding the steep hill east of Grady’s stadium and by the historic Woody’s Famous Philadelphia Cheesesteaks place. Indeed, as we left TJs, an SUV was sliding down it with wheels locked and the tires slowly skidding downhill in the bright sunshine. The Woody’s sign has already been pasted during this wintery event.
The local TV coverage has hammered several messages over the last few days, including: 1) stay put (we violated that); and, 2) if you have to drive, go slow, like 10, 15, maybe 20 mph (oops, violated that, too, but gently and only a few places).
My observation on #2: drivers on Ponce were heeding it.
Yes, on dry, clean pavement, lines of vehicles (with good tires) were driving a tense, white-knuckled 18 mph!
* We found the semi delivering to TJs parked in front (instead of in back at the loading dock that’s down a still-icy slope), and the shrink-wrapped incoming pallets stacked by the cash registers out of the way, but nearest the front door. Our cashier said it was their second delivery of the day (they were closed until today), and got them caught up. The only empty place I noticed was the artisanal breads, I’m guessing with a different manufacturing/delivery chain.
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
So, this was a yesterday-snowdude, over in front of George’s.
The snowdude creator grabbed material from several tabletops for the creation.
Love the pecan toes!
Today we had some melting, lots of overcast. City still closed, but talk is that mid-day tomorrow we’ll see more places open, and buses running….
With darkness, the wind has kicked up. Unpleasant.
Watched The Social Network and were entertained—enjoyed it, actually….
Heard Zuckerberg closed his office and took his employees to see it. Interesting. Tough guy to be close to, if there’s any truth to the script/portrayal….
In the beginning, Zuckerberg was big on keeping Facebook “cool” to attract joiners. Now, it has considerable momentum, although not everywhere.
I remain off FB, concerned about the centralization of contacts and therefore information. Don’t get me started on photos.
I guess I also have this blog, full of information and photos (although, by design, rarely of—easily identifiable—people), so that’ll have to do for showing my hand….
Monday, 10 January 2011
Snow and ice storms are different critters when there’s no equipment to clear the roads (as you’d expect elsewhere like MI and OH). And now that the yay-hoos have driven over the roads, they’re gonna freeze up like car parts in a junkyard and the mess will be worse tomorrow. And the next day, and the next few days after that. Mass melting is days away at best.
Which reminds me…I remembered about ice dams and the lakes they create with ice-melt, and I cleaned out the gutter in front of our house, so we won’t get a little ice pond on our driveway apron….
Sunday, 9 January 2011
We’re safely back from dinner out, and these are our incoming footsteps from about fifteen minutes ago now. The meteorologists have the wintery part right this time. Here’s hoping they’re wrong about the ice (which makes the electricity part dicey)….
Saturday, 8 January 2011
On this house, I found the sun positively brilliant—such a contrast to all the brick walls….
The meteorologists have added “ice” to their weather discussions, and this does not bode well.
After dark tomorrow, we’re supposed to have snow; overnight the temps will rise, so that it may transition to sleet, then it will be worrisome.
Friday, 7 January 2011
The paperwhites are full out,* a bit of an antidote to the wintery mix I keep hearing may well be headed our way—although various professional sources differ on how likely we are to get this in OUR neighborhood.
* Yes, I know I mentioned them yesterday, but they’re so luscious….
Tuesday, 28 December 2010
I admit it; this is from the most-snowfall-day, not today. Still, I wanted to pass on the wry humor of our HVAC—which we mostly think of as AC—more-than-dusted with snow.
Sunday, 26 December 2010
The freezing overnight is thawing before mid-day (our street is now drying and no longer icy), yet decorative snow-elements remain—for a while, anyway, as the winds are kicking up*….
* Hate that; wind can make trees fall….