The Complaint Department

The Dawn of Misery

 

Had I been writing here during the dark, winter months, you would have read my bitter complaints about the weather.  As it was, Tony had to suffer the brunt of my misery about the GHASTLY amount of snow and the sub-freezing temperatures.

Oh yeah, and the SHOVELING!  God, the shoveling.

This picture was taken in December, after the first snowfall.  Had I known then what was around the corner, I wouldn't have been able to take this photo--instead, I would have been anxiously glued to The Weather Channel and the news from NOAA until March.

We've been rewarded with a really nice spring, though, haven't we?

A Birthday Greeting to My Dad and a "Thank You" to a Friend

It's April 5, my dad's birthday.

He would be 86 today.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Here's a big bouquet of flowers just for you!

I love you, miss you and think of you often.

 

 

Pamela-J left me a comment on my last entry which caused me to stop in my tracks, grab my camera and run outside to capture some images of this glorious, never-to-return day.  She made me realize that things CAN wait.  I can work on taxes any old time, but today is today just this once!

Thank you, Pam, for your kind words of support and encouragement.  You'll never know just how importantly your thoughts affected me today . . . truly.

Here's a special picture for you.  I know how dear are the deer to you!

(Poor hostas.  They didn't stand a chance.)

 

 

Here's my willow tree, always sprouting the first hints of green in the yard, as though trying extra hard to please me.

 

 

Well, it's back to work with a somewhat clearer head!

 

 

Thundersnow

Late last night, we had thundersnow down here in Calvert County, with very high winds, lightning and snow.  I've never seen anything like it before.  The power flickered and threatened to go out, but held on until the storm passed.  It lasted about 30 minutes, or so.

As with everybody in the region, we awoke to a winter wonderland, with snow still falling heavily.  At 10 a.m., I went for a short walk in the neighborhood to capture some images before the beauty was marred by human activity.

 

Here's our driveway.  Tony had already been out with Pilot for a short walk.  Their footprints were almost covered over because of the drifting snow.

 

This tiny pine tree in the front yard was covered with ice and snow.  It made me think of a scene from the movie Doctor Zhivago, when Zhivago is captured by the Red Army during one of his trips into town to see Lara.  He later escapes and finally makes his way back to Lara's apartment, after wandering in the harsh winter landscape for a long time.  When he returns, weakened and at death's doorstop, his facial hair is covered with ice and snow, just like this little tree.

 

Another evergreen.  I forget what it is, but it's gnarled, twisted and very slow growing.

 

This picture was taken halfway up the driveway, looking back at our house.

 

A view into the woods.

 

Uh oh.  A tree fell on our newspaper box at the top of the driveway.

 

Wait . . . this isn't Taos Pueblo.

 

I'm sorry, Officer.  I didn't see the stop sign.

 

Those are my glasses in the snow.  Thank God I saw them fall, otherwise I never would have found them.  They sank into the snow like it was quicksand and were all but invisible a second later.

 

This fence belongs to our Romanian neighbors, two doors down.  Most of the fences in the neighborhood are of the wood-plank or chain-link variety.  The Romanians erected this six- or seven-foot high elaborate, ornamental fence, with a garish gate which can be opened automatically.

Really, it's more suitable for a cemetery.

 

It was one of these tall pines that fell onto our newspaper box.  With every puff of wind, they sway and rub against each other, creating the spookiest and most mournful sounds.

 

Someone's driveway entry decor, taken in the neighborhood.

 

The elusive blue sky.

 

It's just after noon and still snowing.  Soon, I'll have to go out to do a little shoveling.  I'll also walk up the driveway, again, to clean off my car, which is parked in the driveway of the vacant house across the street.

It's back to work tomorrow.

 

Mind the Plow!

A few years ago, I paid a surprise visit to my friend, Peanut, out in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

In January.

It turned out to be one of the coldest weeks on record in Grand Forks, with temperatures reaching more than 30^o below zero.

But, we had a blast.  Peanut and her then-boyfriend took me all over Grand Forks, and enlightened me to its winter charms.  We enjoyed an ice hockey game between Swedish and Finnish youth hockey leagues, and attended by professional league scouts looking for talent.

They took me to a store where one could buy both calf pullers and living room furniture.  I opted to buy some Mane and Tail shampoo for horses and humans, some special hand cream for cowboys and a cool shirt with cattle-driving scenes on it.

I visited Cabela's, the famous sporting goods store, where there was a huge collection of stuffed wildlife artfully arranged on a faux mountain inside the store.  There was a large selection of clothing, ice-fishing huts, snowshoes, special chains to wear on one's boots and just about anything needed for out-of-doors sports.  It was very, very manly.  And plaid.

Peanut turned me on to Culver's--home of the ButterBurger--a regional fast-food joint, where we enjoyed hunks of deep-fried cheese and french fries with cheese and hamburgers with cheese.

One day, while Peanut was busy with law school stuff, her then-boyfriend piled me into their inadequate-for-the-cold Japanese car, and drove me all over the North Dakota prairie on a bar-hopping excursion.  We went from one town to the next, my feet getting colder by the mile, and found the seediest bars, where I had shots of whiskey.  I am nothing, if not a drunken good sport.

I set out on my own a couple of times, on foot, and visited a Scandinavian shop where I bought some souvenirs for friends and family.  I visited an antique shop, where I purchase a cool piece of retro fabric.  I only lasted about 10 minutes out in the elements, because I'm a Southern Belle.

A few days later, we drove to Fargo, Peanut and I wrapped snugly in blankets in the back seat of the car, while then-boyfriend braved the frigid temperatures in the driver's seat.  In Fargo, I found a store which sold all of my Scandinavian souvenirs for about half of the price I had paid in Grand Forks!

Every day, the car had to be cleared of snow and ice, started and warmed up, before it was usable.  Parking lots had long poles with electrical outlets on them for people to plug in their car batteries so they wouldn't die.  Frankly, it was an awful way to start the days.

Snow plows worked around the clock.

Still, people rose to those challenges, and a more cheerful collection of individuals I have never encountered.

   

With my North Dakota experience tucked under my belt, I set out today to drive up to DC to take my mother to a dentist appointment.  Before I left, my husband commented on the bad weather, but I gamely assured him that I was sure there would be no problems.  How bad could it be, right?

After all, there was only a half-inch or so on the roads.  It's true that the roads were untreated, but still . . .

While traveling north, my mother called to tell me that it was snowing quite heavily where she was.  Pressing on, I told her that I would be arriving in a couple of hours, even as I passed the first of many car wrecks on the roadside.

 

A short time later, I sheepishly called Mom to tell her that I wouldn't be able to make it, after all.  The roads were a disaster.

Then I called Tony to tell him the same, and that I was turning around to come home.

All told, it took me roughly two hours to travel about 30 miles up and down the road.  I made more U- and three-point turns this morning than I do in a year normally.

The main obstacles emerged when I tried to re-enter our community, where I found two of the three entrances inaccessible due to accidents and sliding vehicles on big hills.

The third time was a charm, however, and as I pulled into our driveway, my phone rang.

It was Tony, asking me where I was.

Continuing On . . .

Rounding the rocks, I spied a formation of reef balls out in the water.  If you click on the link, you'll see a small picture of my husband, Tony, who manufactured these reef balls.  Did you know that when you die and are cremated, you can have your ashes mixed in with a reef ball and placed in the water?  Yep, it's true!

(There are no dead people in these reef balls.)

 

 

See that enormous ship on the horizon?  Liquefied natural gas.  It's headed to a facility at Cove Point to offload its cargo.  Scary, huh?

 

Here's a better picture of the ship.  It's probably about two miles away.

 

Let's continue on past this recent cliff slide.

 

Here's an Ecphora.  It's the Maryland state fossil.  It dates to the Miocene, roughly 10 to 20 million years ago.  These, and many other fossils, are embedded in the cliffs.  As erosion occurs, they are washed clean of their surrounding clay by the water.  Some of them survive relatively intact.

 

This is a fossil scallop shell.

 

Look!  It's a fossil clam shell.  See that precision-drilled hole?  It was made by a moon snail in order to get at the creature within.  Life and death in the Miocene.

 

Here are the culprits.

 

Another moon snail shell, among some turritella shells.

 

This tree's been dead for a long time and has some seaweed-type growth on it.  It's probably covered by water usually.

Tomorrow, we'll check out the birds and then head home.

 

These Boots Are Made For Walkin'

 

Last Friday, I took a hike on the beach.  I only covered two or three miles, but I was gone for a couple of hours.  I dawdled, examined shells, took pictures, and enjoyed the wildlife.  It was a mild day for the middle of January.

 

At the top of the driveway, I turned right and walked a few blocks.

 

I opened the gate and slipped through, into the woods.

 

Walking down the path,

 

I stopped to take a picture of some moss.

 

Continuing on,

 

I reached some wooden steps.

 

On one of the steps, there were some shells.  They've been there a really long time.  Nobody disturbs them.

At the bottom of the steps, I arrived at the beach and looked to the left.  I could see the Cove Point Lighthouse at the end of the point.

 

I turned right and headed off around these rocks . . .

 

Moon at Sunset

4:55 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

8 a.m.

 

 

Please drive carefully.

 

A Bad Moon on the Rise

 

The radio told me to check out the moon tonight.  I couldn't, 'cause I was driving.  So, I called Tony from my cell phone and asked him to take some pictures before it got too dark.

He came through for me.

Thank you, Tony.

Today on the Bay

Things are pretty choppy in the water today.

 

The Weather Channel says our region is under a tornado watch.

 

That explains the clouds.

 

One minute, thunderheads . . .

 

. . . the next minute, lovely blue skies.

 

And then, more scary clouds.

Gotta go.  I'm watching the Governor of California in Total Recall.

"For the memory of a lifetime, Recall, Recall, Recall!"