The downside of winter...

It's times like those it's great to have a wood stove. I remember one blizzardy winter night a few years ago, I was sitting in the living room at 1 a.m. at noticed this huge blue flash across the lake. Power was gone five seconds later. We had baseboard heating, and no firewood had been chopped in a few days. Had to get outside and and chop in the dark for a while before I got the fire going. Power wasn't restored for 18 hours, but at least we were warm.

Battery-less flashlight are the best. I can't have enough of them around the house.

 

I do.

No fire ants. No skeeters. No mowing the lawn.

Yep, that's about it.

 

Actually, no.

No other yard maintenance.
No struggling to breathe in stifling hot air.
No tornadoes.
No hurricanes.
It's easier to put on clothes than peel off skin.

 

Well, that too.

 

I'm leaving for a Southern Caribbean cruise in a little over a week. There's no good time for something like this, but there are worse times than others.

The plumber has been here for about 90 minutes. Another hour or so till my water is turned back on and I can throw up in the toilet.

Then I'll feel better.

Meanwhile, the ceiling in my bedroom and the wall in the upstairs bathroom have been cut away. Thank God for insurance (although I do have a $500 deductible).

 

Winter sucks in every way. I just hibernate and wait for spring training.

 

I've lived in the South my whole life, but I'm actually a big fan of winter. I don't yearn for 8 feet of snow or anything like that, but I like the cold, gray days for a while. Makes me appreciate spring that much more.

 

Well, just make sure you turn your water off and drain the pipes before your holiday.

 

I like winter but what gets to me isn't the cold and the snow but the day after day with no sun.

If you drive through rural Ontario in winter after a snowfall, you'd swear you were in a black and white photograph.

White snow, grey sky, grey trees, grey barns.

But a cold sunny day with a foot of snow--perfect.

As long as you don't have to go anywhere.

 

The damn thing is that I don't mind winter physically. I've discovered that my normal body temperature is in the mid 97s and it seems that no matter how cold it is, if I have a T shirt, a shirt and a decent coat on, I'm fine. The cold snaps we've had over the past few years, the only time I realize how damn cold it really is is from the other indicators -- the car, the sump pump pipe freezing on the outside of the house, and now the pipes in the upstairs bathroom.

I'm not cold, but everything else is. And now everything is wet, too.

 

By the way, the place where the pipe broke was another joint where it went from copper pipe to plastic pipe. Whoever thought plastic pipe on an outside wall was a good idea should be sued.

 

I like winter but I usually get tired of it before it's over.