Life goes on

Sometimes it’s hard to know what to say.  On a blog.  On the phone.  In a letter.  In person.

Beginning with the last two weeks in February things started getting hard.

My sister had to do a very brave thing.  It was time for her adopted greyhound to leave this world.  Being brave is so hard.  What do you say?

Our neighbor, Steve, lost his battle with Alzheimer’s disease.  I took a breakfast care package to his wife and daughters.  Mr. Aitch was an honorary pallbearer.  We hadn’t seen Steve for over a year when he was moved to a nursing home.  What do you say?

Mr. Aitch’s cousin suffered from COPD.  Her suffering ended in February.  What do you say?

A co-worker’s sister.  Also gone.  What do you say?

Last night we learned that a friend Mr. Aitch and I have known since college was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and has four or five months left to live.  He’s teaches at a local college and is in the middle of directing a musical production that opens this week.  This particular production is one that he actually wrote.  And it will be his last.

I want John to know that I value his friendship.  He and his wife used to come to our house and play Trivial Pursuit until the wee hours of the morning.  We went on motorcycle trips together.  I listened to the heartaches that come with parenting teenagers.  I only see John a few times a year now and when we go to the musical performance this weekend, I’ll probably see him again. 

What do I say?

Much ado about nothing

We got some snow (and a day off work) but we didn’t get as much snow as predicted.  No 10-18 inches of snow here.  More like six inches before it started to melt.

These photos were taken around 10:00 this morning.  Heavy, wet snow coming from the east.  Temperature is about 32 degrees.  This was perfect snowman making snow.

Saturn-snow-0945-am1

Saturn-snow-0945-am2

And these photos were taken at 2:30 this afternoon. 

Saturn-snow-1347.pm01

Saturn-snow-1347.pm02

The sun is still shining and the snow is still melting.  It’s 43 degrees outside right now.

Much ado about nothing.

Crying wolf?

A huge winter storm is headed our way.  I believe the name is Saturn.  Having named winter storms will take some getting used to.  Are the weather forecasters crying wolf again saying our area could get anywhere from 10 to 18 inches of snow?

Snagged from weather.com

Snagged from weather.com

I admit I’m very sceptical when it comes to these forecasts.  In the past they were either way over or way under the actual precipitation amounts.  Oops, sorry.  The storm track went farther north/south than expected or it fizzled out altogether.

Sometimes they get it right.  Like the “Storm of the Century” in March 1993.  I didn’t believe it was going to be as bad as predicted so I continued with my plans to visit my friend in Pine Grove, PA the Friday the storm hit.  We were trapped in her house until Tuesday.  All the roads were shut down for several days and it was bitter cold.  When Interstate 81 finally did reopen, it was one-lane with snow piled 15 feet high on either side of the road.  OK, they got that one right.

But the last several storms headed our way didn’t pan out.  Hence my skepticism.

I’m not alone in this thinking.  I stopped at the market this morning on my way to work (I forgot to get milk the other day) and overheard several people taking about how the media are constantly causing panic: Super Storms, the Mayan calendar panic, fuel and food shortages/price increases.  I remember when Johnny Carson joked about a toilet paper shortage (many, many years ago) and people flocked to the market and bought up all the toilet paper!  And it was a joke.

Is this another case of crying wolf?  Time will tell.

An unexpected treat

Mr. Aitch and I were driving through Morgantown, West Virginia yesterday and decided to stop for an early dinner at the Tilted Kilt.

Tlited-kilt

As we approached the entrance to the restaurant, a gentleman was leaving and he held the door for us.  I noticed his shirt and told him that I really liked it.  He nodded and thanked me.

Mr. Aitch and I sat down at our table, ordered and ate our meal.  When we were finished eating, the waitress came over to tell us that our meal was paid for by the gentleman whose shirt I liked.  We waved to him and as we were leaving, we stopped to thank him for his generosity.  He replied that it was his pleasure to help out a fellow patriot.

What was on the back of his shirt?  Join, or die.  For more information about this woodcut by Benjamin Franklin, click here.

join or die