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Friday, March 6, 2015

Measuring Snowfall

(For politics, please scroll down)

One of my Facebook finds yesterday when the D.C. area got slammed by another winter event:

30 comments:

  1. _____ Blizzard _____

    Snow:
    years of anger following
    hours that float idly down —
    the blizzard
    drifts its weight
    deeper and deeper for three days
    or sixty years, eh? Then
    the sun! a clutter of
    yellow and blue flakes —
    Hairy looking trees stand out
    in long alleys
    over a wild solitude.
    The man turns and there —
    his solitary track stretched out
    upon the world.


    ~ William Carlos Williams

    ReplyDelete
  2. I sure don't miss the snow. 85 here! This should be the last of it for you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not necessarily, BV. remember T.S. Eliot told us "April is the cruelest month breeding lilacs out of the dead land ..."

      In New Jersey I've known it to snow quite heavily in early April.

      Delete
    2. FT,
      Once Palm Sunday 2015 comes and goes, we should be safe from more of winter's blasts.

      We have a tradition here of "the Palm Sunday ice storm."

      Delete
  3. __ The cold earth slept below __

    The cold earth slept below;
    ____ Above the cold sky shone;
    ______ And all around,
    ______ With a chilling sound,
    From caves of ice and fields of snow
    The breath of night like death did flow
    ______ Beneath the sinking moon.

    The wintry hedge was black;
    ____ The green grass was not seen;
    ______ The birds did rest
    ______ On the bare thorn’s breast,
    Whose roots, beside the pathway track,
    Had bound their folds o’er many a crack
    ______ Which the frost had made between.

    Thine eyes glow’d in the glare
    ____ Of the moon’s dying light;
    ______ As a fen-fire’s beam
    ______ On a sluggish stream
    Gleams dimly—so the moon shone there,
    And it yellow’d the strings of thy tangled hair,
    ______ That shook in the wind of night.

    The moon made thy lips pale, beloved;
    ____ The wind made thy bosom chill;
    ______ The night did shed
    ______ On thy dear head
    Its frozen dew, and thou didst lie
    Where the bitter breath of the naked sky
    ______ Might visit thee at will.



    ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When I shovel the snow now, I see green verdancy there!

      Delete
  4. ______ SNOW HAIKU _____

    For Winter Weary New Englanders

    Bare branches stick out
    From snow mountains twelve feet tall
    Longing for the spring.

    Snow suffocation
    Must be difficult to bear
    Bushes too must breathe.

    We Human beings
    Sit, drink tea, sip Scotch, hook rugs
    Or read by the fire.

    Work jigsaw puzzles,
    Darn socks, plan meals or daydream
    In cozy comfort.

    While patiently
    Waiting for deliverance
    From this winter’s worst.


    ~ FreeThinke

    ReplyDelete
  5. ____ The Darkling Thrush ___

    I leant upon a coppice gate
    ___ When Frost was spectre-grey,
    And Winter's dregs made desolate
    ___ The weakening eye of day.
    The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
    ___ Like strings of broken lyres,
    And all mankind that haunted nigh
    ___ Had sought their household fires.

    The land's sharp features seemed to be
    ___ The Century's corpse outleant,
    His crypt the cloudy canopy,
    ___ The wind his death-lament.
    The ancient pulse of germ and birth
    ___ Was shrunken hard and dry,
    And every spirit upon earth
    ___ Seemed fervourless as I.

    At once a voice arose among
    ___ The bleak twigs overhead
    In a full-hearted evensong
    ___ Of joy illimited;
    An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
    ___ In blast-beruffled plume,
    Had chosen thus to fling his soul
    ___ Upon the growing gloom.

    So little cause for carolings
    ___ Of such ecstatic sound
    Was written on terrestrial things
    ___ Afar or nigh around,
    That I could think there trembled through
    ___ His happy good-night air
    Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew
    ___ And I was unaware.


    ~ Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I guess that this is what we get for not paying a climate tax!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. §;-D= ??????? Sorry but I'm not with it.

      Delete
    2. Hi, Jon. I just hate to use "LOL" or any of those stock net abbreviations, so I made up an "emoticon" of my unknown to indicate merriment or good humor.

      Most use :-) to indicate a smiley face.

      I think §;-D= looks like a clownish person laughing his or her head off. Tilt your head to the left and see if you don't agree.

      For future reference here is my customized DEMONICON

      };-)>

      which sometimes appears this way

      ]:-{>

      Delete
  7. Just got back from moving igloo pieces blocking the walkway entrance on this house. Gotta get the home-care veterinarian in here to see our beloved Cameo. She's been sick for 48 hours now. I hope that he can save her! He is definitely planning to come here today; I got the confirmation call this morning.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. May your cats get well
      Soon after the vet arrives.
      Love helps healing too.


      I am praying he
      Can get to you just as planned
      And work his magic.

      Delete
    2. Dr. V. is an animal talker. Our kitties love him.

      Well, Mysti somewhat loves him. She's very shy and ever paranoid.

      Amber isn't sure what she thinks of a veterinarian.

      Cameo, typical of her breed, has zero fear of the vet. Indeed, she has zero fear of anyone! She's a Rottweiler of a cat.

      I can see that Cameo is feeling a bit better. She sleeps with me, sits next to me, and doesn't look as worried as she was. But she won't eat her food, and lack of appetite is a bad sign for a cat with a history of bladder stones. I hope that the vet will give her an appetite stimulant; he did that once before when she had the $600 hairball from hell. That shot worked wonders!

      My biggest fear for her right now, of course, is a cancer of the bowel.

      Delete
  8. Hasty Winter Haiku

    A Champagne bottle
    Placed in anticipation
    Of a heavy snow

    Stands erect, and waits
    To see itself get buried
    In a crystal shroud.

    Can bubbly wine freeze
    Or lose its sparkling luster
    Buried in the snow?

    If not, when it starts
    To melt, the wine should be chilled,
    Ready to imbibe.

    Could a better time
    To stage a celebration
    Come than when snow thaws?


    ~ FreeThinke (3/6/15)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So, FT, the graphic inspired you?

      From what I understand, this photo was actually taken about 20 miles west of here.

      Delete
  9. Sorry to send it your way, AOW.
    We haven;t seen any significant snow for week now but southern Mass. got
    another foot from this one.

    Jet stream has changed and we are finally in a warming trend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lizzie Strata said

      Too bad! You got close to breaking an all-time record.

      Delete
    2. Missed it by a little over an inch but that record was for a full winter.
      We got this in a month.

      Delete
  10. I think those photos are VERY clever.

    TOO warm here. I hate it

    ReplyDelete
  11. I think those photos are VERY clever.

    TOO warm here. I hate it

    ReplyDelete
  12. It looks like that wine has a really nice chill on it. Here in Florida we wrap a bottle of whatever in wet paper towels and set it in the freezer. In 15 minutes, you have an icy cold beverage.

    I'm sorry about your kitties. Hope it all works out for the best for you all.

    ReplyDelete
  13. UPDATE ON CAMEO:

    The vet has been here. He injected her with sub-cu H2O. He may have to prescribe an appetite stimulant if her appetite doesn't come back in 24 hours. She must eat her special diet to prevent potentially-fatal bladder stones, and she won't eat it -- although she will eat other food.

    An appetite stimulant can make a cat aggressive. Imagine Cameo as more aggressive! YE, GODS!

    The good news is that Cameo doesn't appear to have an intestinal blockage, which has been our biggest worry.

    I will touch base again tomorrow with the vet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Next kitty to see the vet: Mysti. She is having some major dental issues. The poor girl has always had bad teeth.

      Delete
    2. I am so sorry to hear about your kitties....good luck, AOW.

      Delete
  14. That Cameo is such a beauty - and personality too, I can tell! What, pray tell, is the breed that has 'zero fear'?

    Glad it wasn't the 'worst' for her, Sad to see our little friends age faster than we do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Baysider,
      Cameo isn't out of the woods yet. She must resume eating her special food. Bit both the vet and I are hopeful that we can get her to go in that direction!

      Delete
    2. Cameo is 1/4 Bluepoint Siamese and 3/4 Russian Blue. Yes, she is a plushy beauty. She was the runt of the litter, but always rooted aggressively for the teat. LOL.

      Delete
  15. Ah, yes. Her coloring is Russian Blue.

    ReplyDelete

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