on a lighter note

As many of you know, the northeast continues to get relentlessly hammered and pummelled and shellacked by cold, snow, and blowing snow.  Praise be to the snowplow drivers...even though I hear salt stockpiles are beginning to run low.

So in the spirit of patience and good will and dealing with it, I went looking for the comical side of what will forever be known as "that winter of 2014".

That's my mittened hand there front and center.

 

 Yes! What the snowman says. UNCLE!

Not sure if you can read the sign the penguin is holding? It reads,
"Get milk and toilet paper."

Doing our best here to deal with mothernature's fury.
Until next time.
Peace and Love

looking for the bright side

I got out of my vehicle just to capture this photo this morning. Sigh. Not gonna make it to work and back in this. A level 2 snow emergency has been posted for Fulton County and every surrounding county for that matter. The Toledo police are only responding to injury crashes. Let's just say, the weather and road conditions are crap. Again.

It feels as if you choose to dance with the devil to go out in this stuff. You nail one drift or a passing car nails a drift and poof...you're both off the road. Vehicle in a ditch or field or worse.

It's sort of hard to see but in the photo above, drifts are forming across State Route 109 from the blowing wind and snow that can grab your car and toss it off the road with "YOU SHALL NOT PASS" echoing through the air.

I've been trying to find some comic relief from this relentless winter and well, let's just say I seem to be more irritable than anything else. Reminds me of the cabin fever I felt in the 90s when I attended college in Northern Wisconsin. This was everyday winter up there.

Good news. My winter wardrobe has grown exponentially. Warm layers makes it all much more liveable. My back and arms are getting stronger from all the shoveling too! Pffft, who needs a gym membership?
Watched an episode of Yukon Men last night. That made me much more appreciative for plenty of warm food, running water and much warmer temperatures than what they live in every day.

Always a brighter side of things.

Looking for it is definitely helping. Maybe I'll go out and visit with the chickens in the barn. They aren't complaining.

1-27-14 Update:
I found the BEST bright side ever last night! Was at a gas station and written in big black sharpie letters on a post-it note were the words...
"52 days until Spring"!

Hell yeah!

this explains it

yep. This is pretty obvious. But...maybe a few good things can come from the now memorable winter of 2014...fewer ticks and fewer mosquitoes this summer.  Hell, I'd be surprised if we even see a fly this summer.

Gotta love some nature. And now my mission is to learn to dance in the snow.

What the flock?!

I accidentally came across this inspiring small business today!  I was perusing www.npr.org and came across the article titled, In The Super Bowl Ad Game, One Small Business Will Win Big. 

Superbowl ads make me laugh and many are inspiring on a "hey, that was COOL" level. But what especially grabbed my attention here was one of the four finalists is an EGG COMPANY!  The "Locally Laid Egg Company" of Duluth, MN.

Heck YEAH I watched their ad and wanted to vote for them too (turns out voting ended Dec 1st, but I can still cheer em right?) LOVE these types of small farms! And especially when it involves laying hens and fresh egg sales!

According to their website they use non-gmo corn and grassy pastures to feed their hens which are all named "Lola" for Locally Laid.  I just love entrepreneurship and the healthy version of things especially when it's coupled with good humor (their sales slogan is "Get Locally Laid").

So if you need some inspiration...check these chicks out!

www.locallylaid.com

High five to you all their at Locally Laid!

defcon levels and snowmobiles

A friend of mine in Tennessee made me laugh out loud the other day while I was texting her a description of emergency snow levels. She said, "Sounds like defcon levels."
So yes, we have survived "defcon level 3" and are now emerging from our caves back into daily life.
In the mean time...I have been updating racheldickson.com and uploaded a new audio blog entry as well (complete with snowmobile jollies)
Have a topic you'd like me to address in an audio blog entry? comment below and I'll get right on it!
In the mean time...onward and upward for the arts!

Turkey wrangling and other such snow emergencies

Fulton County Ohio is currently in a "level 2 snow emergency".  Lucas County (the county that Chris works in) is currently in a "level 3 snow emergency."
It's 7:00p on Sunday night of the most recent snowpocalypse.
My first ever official "level anything" snow emergency.  Sure, I've heard of these things. I remember clearly while living away from here talking to my folks on the phone and they'd say "well, we're in a such-n-such snow emergency" and I'd say, "what's that?"  Which of course is when I learned of such things. But now I know first hand what these things represent. 
For those of you who are interested...here's the low down.
LEVEL 1: Roadways are hazardous with blowing and drifting snow. Roads may also be icy. Motorists are urged to drive very cautiously.
LEVEL 2: Roadways are hazardous with blowing and drifting snow. Roads may also be very icy. Only those who feel it is necessary to drive should be out on the roads. Contact your employer to see if you should report to work. Motorists should use extreme caution.
LEVEL 3: All roadways are closed to non-emergency personnel. No one should be driving during these conditions unless it is absolutely necessary to travel or a personal emergency exists. All employees should contact their employer to see if they should report to work. Those traveling on the roads may subject themselves to arrest.
Chris is an RN. And medical professionals are of the few who fall under the "emergency personnel" category, therefore she drove to work today through Fulton County's level 2 and smack through Lucas County's level 3. Her description of driving conditions, "I have to stay in tire marks to stay on the road and it is throwing me around and I can hear snow scraping under my car."  Nice. (She did make it safely into work.) And I will take this moment now to say, "SUPER KUDOS to all you medical professionals out there who have to drive through this nonsense!"

Then there's the turkey wrangling.  

Our chickens are pretty smart when it comes to snow on the ground.  Stay in the barn until no more snow. Maybe turkey feet are designed to handle colder temps? Don't know. But chickens don't seem to like tip-toeing around in the snow. But I digress. Our turkey hen seems to like to lay on the ground overnight, while the Tom turkey roosts up along the top of the fenceline surrounding the chicken yard.
It's supposed to get stupid cold tonight...not to mention all the snow falling...and neither of the turkeys have enough sense to take advantage of the open barn door and seek shelter inside. So, Rache to the rescue.  pahah!
Off I go trudging through snow up to my shins to coerce the turkeys indoors. So visualize this...I'm 5 foot 3. Tom turkey is roosting on a fence that's above my head. He likely weighs 25 pounds....and has a long neck...and a BIG beak.  I'm looking up at him and thought that my mere presence in his face would encourage him to fly down, be next to his girl and easily wander into the barn.  pffft.
I reached out and pushed him. He hissed. Not a good sign. Then I thought, well, if I can avoid provoking him, push him hard enough to lift his feet off the fence, then he'll take flight and soar down next to his girl.  (who knew, apparently turkeys have better balance and finesse than chickens...this would have worked with chickens)
Not so fast. I poked and pushed him no less than 6 times. By the 6th time I started getting pecked at.  Apparently he was very happy with his evening nest and had no intention of leaving it without a struggle.
Long story short...he did finally fly down off the fence and then I had to chase him all over the yard before he finally waltzed into the barn. When I saw my boot tracks in the snow it made me laugh. All OVER the back yard. Yep, evidence shows I wrangled a turkey. Yeah! I win!!
Guess we shall see what happens tomorrow morning when I have to open the barn door back up.

Oh and driveway shoveling update.  Third time complete. Back and arms getting stronger as we speak!

attitude adjustment activate

I ain't gonna lie. Took this photo about 3:45p on Sunday afternoon. Snow coming down pretty dang hard here in northwest Ohio. After deliberating for nearly an hour this morning, decided it was in my best interest to call off work and not ridiculously temp the snow gods and spend the night in my truck stuck on the side of the road trying to get home.

Won't be long and we will likely have what's been predicted for two days now...another ten inches of snow.  sigh. (so definitely a good call...not braving the roads today..thanks Chris for your advice)

Yes, Yes. I'm a born yankee and all, but I've been to the "promised land" (Tennessee, spent nearly 20 years there)...and being snow limited isn't really cool to me. 

I admit it. I need an attitude adjustment. I probably just need to bundle up and go outside and build some snow things. That will likely do the trick actually. I've already been out and shoveled once...confident another visit to the shovel gym is in the very near future. (positive note...my arms and back are getting stronger by the day!)  pfftt, who needs a snow blower anyway?

So to my friends who have yankee winter blood flowing through their veins (yes, this means you Chris)...high five.  To my friends who are somewhere south of here and are thinking "gee, that must suck"....high five.
In the mean time...trying to capitalize on computer time and website updating.

Winter has returned. (just like the winters of old...I remember THIS is what winter was like here in northwest Ohio when I was a kid...and truth is...once you have the proper boots, gloves, hat, shemgah, fleece and the like...it's not so bad).  Now...I believe snowball chuckin, snow people building and sledding will soon be in order!
Stay safe everyone. Rumor has it...the temps are about to plummet too.