While I fully appreciate the need for many kinds of weather, I respectfully ask that You limit it to one kind of misery per 24 hour period. Right now You’ve got 5 inches of snow falling in 5 hours and then a plunge down to -15 scheduled for tonight. Perchance a change of heart is in order?
Now, on to my fellow drivers. I don’t want this to be taken as a rant, but a humorous observation of the wretched driving habits of my fellow Minnesotans. To lighten things just a bit, I’m putting up a picture of Stormy taken this morning with the observations below the fold.
Today is about the bazillionth day of really cold weather in Minnesota. Maybe not really cold, not that long, but it’s been a tough winter in every respect. As a result some of the shelters are running low on their resources. More people needing more nights in the shelter, more food, more clothing, etc.
If you find it in your heart, please make a donation to one of your local charities to take care of the homeless. The risk of their freezing to death is very real. Your donation is a blessing to them.
Image unabashedly stolen from http://www.ugmstpaul.org/
If you don’t know of a charity that could use your help, how about The Union Gospel Mission of Saint Paul? I have worked with them over the years on different projects and found them to be a remarkably good group of people who do their best at every turn.
I just kicked part of my annual tithe that way this morning. It’s amazing what just a few dollars from each of you could accomplish. They do God’s work every day down there.
That is all. Please resume your normal activities.
Part of my addiction problem is an obsession with old movies. Film Noir will capture me almost every time. If it’s got dames & gumshoes I’m in for the duration. Turner Movie Classics is making this an even worse problem: now I’m doing the classics.
I recently spent 4 hours watching Gone With The Wind. Not my cup of tea based on the people who’d told me all about what a wonderful movie I had been missing. Meh. But I was wrong. Really wrong: it rocked.
Now that wasn’t bad enough – it opened my eyes to the fact that I’d been dismissing a lot of movies based on other’s wimpy fondness for them. Call it blinders, stupidity, gall, or just arrogance. Your choice. I admit freely that my viewing was lacking.
It should come as no surprise then that my DVR captured How Green Was My Valley when it aired recently. The plot didn’t sound all that great on first glance but I gave it a shot.
Wow. I was blown away by the cast for starters. If a great character actor was missing I can’t name them. All of my favorites from an entire generation of actors were in this film. Roddy McDowell, Maureen O’Hara, Walter Pidgeon… and all those faces you know but can’t name as the rest of the cast.
If there was a more beautiful woman on earth during her era Maureen O’Hara didn’t know about it: she exudes sexy charm, fresh faced beauty, and a grace that abounds in every scene. The woman could act to boot. I’ve never seen her in anything where I didn’t want to watch for another two hours. If you want to be transfixed by her beauty and skill, watch The Quiet Man. Funny, piercing, serious, and sad all in one movie.
The movie’s plot is simple: the lives of a family of Welsh coal miners at the turn of the century. The trials and challenges were daunting, but their love and loyalty to each other brought them through it all. The simple story and basic decency of humanity were the focus rather than the despair and depravity that were the opposite side of that coin.
You will find, if you watch the TCM version of the movie, that the story is just a small part of the novel by Richard Llwellyn. I’m going to read it when I get some time next year. (Yes, I have to plan my reading that far in advance. Seems that writing takes up some of the time reading used to in my life.)
I’d give the movie 5 stars out of 5. Well worth a view and not just for Maureen O’Hara. But then again, she is worth it all by herself. Here’s the trailer just for a taste:
How green is your valley? Are you loyal and loving to your friends and family in the face of adversity?
My feet are cold. My nose is cold. My dog is cold. Yes, Stormy is cold. I just went to take a picture of the Grim Reaper’s playground (my back yard) and she didn’t even get off the couch when the door opened. It’s too cold to entice even a Sheltie toward the door this morning. She’s saving up the barking for a warmer day.
Taken through the door – too cold to even open it for a photo.
Minnesota weather this winter is right out of the annals of fiction.
I remember reading Jack London‘s books when I was a kid. Fascinated by the fact that the world I lived in wasn’t all that different than his stories of the remote wilderness where The Call of the Wild took place. Ray Bradbury transported me to Mars – cold and inhospitable. Stephen King can bring a scene like this to life as well. Yesterday was a magical Minnesota day – whiteout conditions at select locations within the city limits of Saint Paul. I was not surprised, but I was not pleased, to see the snow obscuring the road and other cars when the wind pummeled its way out of the alley ways and yards. Roofs were a popular source of misery as subzero snow was blown off of garages and down the collars of passersby.
It’s not just ugly and miserable, it’s dangerous. The homeless are in danger of death when it gets like this. If your car breaks down on the freeway you have 10 minutes outside before you risk frostbite. (Makes you rethink the whole concept of a light coat because it’s so darned warm in that car…) Kids are home today, school’s cancelled because of the cold. And the best part? Tomorrow is even colder.
I have places I have to go today. I’d much rather stay camped out in the living room with the immobile sheep dog. But life does go on. Perchance it will be a repeat of last week when the appointment was cancelled due to illness. This morning I suspect the odds are good that the cold will trump all. That would mean I’d be forced to work on a book instead of watching television in a waiting room. Not all that bad a trade.
I’d just like to put the rest of the state on notice that the first person who complains about how hot it is in July will be thrown to the ground and covered with dry ice. There is no reason to complain about our summer heat. It’s the only way we avoid having permafrost around this place.
I know, I know – blah, blah, blah. I just figure that you’re like me and need reminding. One more time for the flyer and then some humor (*stolen from my Facebook feed because I’m too lazy to write it out twice and I liked what I wrote enough to… never mind*) below that for you.
This is the best deal going for really learning CPR, and it benefits a great charity.
It is now the part of winter where it’s no longer fun in any way. Today it is stupid cold – -18 Fahrenheit. This is the time of winter when the following things happen:
The dog, who lives to bark, runs out and voids all waste in less than 1 minute. Not a peep uttered as it’s too cold to even make it to the fence without freezing your paws.
People start wearing shorts and no hat or gloves to prove that they are tougher than nature. (They will lose – skin, noses, fingertips, etc.)
Norwegians begin to pity us for our pasty skin.
Crazed Minnesotans begin to take hostages at tanning salons in order to skip ahead in the line.
Cars are a uniform scaly gray from the road salt. Pinstriping occurs where you have slipped on the ice and dragged your parka along the side as you crashed to the ground.
Snow is now an obstacle that must be hurdled along many curb lines as opposed to a “nice change of pace.”
Snowshoe enthusiasts press their noses against the window and mutter, “As soon as it warms up a little…”
The travel sites begin to see a traffic uptick that will blow the servers. Inquiries about MSP to anywhere warmer than Oslo flood the internet and threaten to eat up all available bandwidth.
Finally, torture scenes in Lawrence of Arabia begin to look inviting – at least he was warm.
