We're Just Getting On With It!!

(Ware, Massachusetts)

          I woke up again this morning and turned on the T.V. to get the weather report...YAY!! We're suppose to get up into the 50s (Fahrenheit) today, and the rest of the week too! Except for tomorrow. Tomorrow it's suppose to get to 60!! :-) ...I feel a 'melting' coming on!!! And we need a melting too!

         WWLP 22News had some great photos up, yesterday morning, of the leftovers of the storm and the damage it's causing. There were also photos of the resilience and creativity of the people in our area as they deal with it! I thought I'd share...starting with the header photo of the snow and ice covering the power lines. That's been the biggest problem I think.

      The other big problem has been the trees that have fallen from the weight of the snow and ice. They've been making driving around town very precarious...Imagine being in this car, with this scene off to the side of the road!...

 (Osborne Road; Ware, Massachusetts)

       ...Or having to be the tree movers that come to move this transformer pole off of the wires!!...YIKES!!...

(Prokop Ave; Ludlow, Massachusetts)

       ...Or to move this huge tree out of the middle of the road!

(Harkness Ave; Springfield, Massachusetts) 

        Sounds like loads of fun in the snow and ice, right?!....NOT!!!

(Dead End)

      The photo above didn't exactly say where this was, but wherever it is I hope hubby doesn't run into it! He almost got trapped on a road yesterday...trying to take a short-cut!...*shaking my head!* O_0

       But as bad, and as inconvenient, as this snow storm has been, people are making the best of a bad situation. Those without power are finding genius-inspired ways to keep their groceries cold...

 (Preserving food without power)

       Isn't that great?! I guess you only have to worry about polar bears or other wild animals with opposable thumbs! (meaning they can touch the top of their index fingers with their thumbs....meaning they can twist the cap off of stuff!!! ^_^)

      I think this guy could 'take 'em' though! :-)) And I think he would too...if they tried to mess with his coffee!! ^_^

("Gotta have my coffee!")

      I know that feeling all too well lately!! But I'd add my green tea too!...No, I haven't totally given up tea! ^_^ I'm just adding to my repertoire...tea, coffee, apple cider, orange juice....and next hot toddies!!! ^_^

      It's all about how to fix coffee for some, and it's all about how to fix food without power for others!... But they're doing it!! :-) Cooking Pioneer style on the fireplace in Wilbraham Massachusetts...

    

       ...or roasting weenies by the fire in West Springfield Massachusetts! Ha! Ha!...

        And some people...the creative type...just amaze me at their ingenuity...

       ...It's a stove made from sterno fuel and a coffee can! :-) ...WOW! Even after the coffee's all gone!!

       And what about the people who like the snow?! Well...They make snowmen!!!

(1st snowman; Chester, Massachusetts)

(An almost 5 foot snowman!)

           And Kaylee and Joclyn wanted to build a bigger snowman than they saw the night before, on the news... 

           ...There's is over eight feet tall! :-)

       So, as you can see, we're not twiddling our thumbs and singing "Woe is me!" We're just getting on with it!...We're New Englanders!!...We're not afraid of a little snow and ice!!...*looking around suspiciously*...But we're not in a hurry to get any more...just in case anybody's wondering! LOL

      I'm going back to bed to dream of sunshine! By the time I get up we could have some too! I secretly think I might be related to Rip Van Winkle!! ^_^ Have a good day everybody!!

A Little Doze'll Do You!

I enjoy my sleeping, and a doze,
a nap, and such.
In fact I might enjoy a snooze
entirely waay too much!

At any time of day,
you'll find me like a weeping willow.
Head hung low and dragging,
looking for the nearest pillow.

No, there's nothing wrong.
I'm not depressed. I've still got bounce!
And I can stay awake and be
quite witty when it counts!

But I have been awake for things
where I could have been asleep.
And now my time's so valuable
I don't treat it like it's cheap.

My sleeping, dozing, napping,
is to my life a special key.
It unlocks and refreshes
and dispels anxiety!

Most people try to fill up
every hour in the day.
But me, I'd rather be asleep
and waste it all away.

There's plenty hours left
for all the flit and play and chore.
An hour for a nap right now?!
Why not?! There's 24!!

{By the way, the posting of the new Giveaway is postponed until tomorrow. And I'll show you a few pictures of my new frame then too! :-)}

BIG GIRLS A Coming!!!

       (WWLP 22News)

          The people in the header photo, from the Washington D.C. area, look exactly like I was feeling yesterday after I heard about the rare 5.9 magnitude earthquake!...

        (WWLP 22News)

           ...It rattled the eastern third of the United States from Virginia all the way to Rhode Island and New York City!...And Yeah! Holyoke is in there somewhere too! LOL
         WWLP 22News shared photos from the Washington D.C. area (below)...

           ....from Philadelphia....

          ....from Baltimore Maryland...

        .....and from other points in between, of people flabbergasted, and damage done. You can see the rest of the photos if you click HERE.

           So, as you might guess, with a 5.9 magnitude earthquake,...the strongest earthquake to hit the East coast in 100 years!...AND then hurricane Irene, almost at a category 3 {125 MPH winds} and now hitting the Turks and Caicos islands on it's way to the Bahamas..... and then also barreling up the coast right toward us by Sunday night!...the feeling is not getting any better this morning!! *gulp!* O_0

      (WWLP 22News)

(WWLP 22News)

         First of all....did I feel the earthquake?!....The answer...I'm not sure. O_0 I 'did' have a strange bout of queasiness yesterday, but I haven't really taken the time to think about whether the timing was connected...I 'do' know that the local news out of Chicopee,...

        ...the town next door to Holyoke,...

      ...was reporting that some people in our area here in Western Massachusetts felt it!...I don't have time to try to figure it out! I'm watching the news and weather, people!! :-]
        I can tell you that there's an almost palpable air that it seems like everybody is feeling. And it's not just from the weather, but the news too! And even though we're all not huddled together in one spot...like the flamingos were yesterday!...I know we can all feel it!
    Speaking of which, the Post Gazette said that the first warnings of Tuesday's earthquake may have happened at the National Zoo. Apparently some of the animals felt the earthquake coming before humans did! 
      The red ruffed lemurs began "alarm calling" a full 15 minutes before the quake hit! And an orangutan let out a guttural holler 10 seconds before the keepers felt the quake...And the flamingos?!...They huddled together in the water seconds before the people felt the rumblings! :-) ...........I think the animals had the idea! Scream, sound the alarm, and then duck for cover!....Preferably not alone! ^_^
     Hubby and I are already talking about huddling strategies involving canned beans, flashlights, batteries, candles, snacks, and an inordinate amount of water!!...My local WWLP 22News said: "...Forecasts for strength and direction of a hurricane this many days out can be tricky and, at times, unreliable. That being said, Irene needs to be watched closely and we will have a much better idea on the potential impact any rain or wind will have on Western Massachusetts in the coming days..."
        The first 'Big Girl' hurricane...so we called her...that we remember coming through the New England area (we lived in Connecticut at that time) was Hurricane Gloria!! She was SOMETHING!!! Oooo! Whee!...Then, not too long ago, we got Hurricane Isabel. She wasn't as fearsome as Gloria, but I did write a poem about her!...Now, I guess we're gonna just have to wait and see what this 'Big Girl' is all about...Oh! By the way, her name is 'Irene'.
       I can tell you something else for sure...whenever she gets here, I'll be right here!!!... Probably in a sleeping bag, with the zipper all the way up, holding a can of pork and beans in one hand, and a can opener in the other. But I'll be right here!!! I'm not moving!!.....*said as I'm shaking in my boots!* LOL...But that might just be another tremor from the earthquake.......*sigh* O_0


Me And Isabel

She's round and likes to travel,
and goes where I'd like to go.
She loves warm weather and water;
and her size doesn't bother her flow.

She packs a lot of power-
But its peaceful to look in her eye;
And, like me, she gets lots of attention
when she goes meandering by.

Beach-combers hate to see her coming,
because she loves to kick up the sand.
She can be kind of destructive-
(But that depends on where she lands).

I love comparing myself to her,
even though I have nothing to gain
by seeing myself-point-by-point,
compared to Isabel-The Hurricane!

Storm Winds, Hail, and.......Tornadoes!!!

        Right 'off the bat' let me thank the local 22 News WWLP for the photos I'm going to be sharing with you today of the storm and multiple tornadoes that just popped up out of no where in our area yesterday!! I wasn't thinking about taking pictures at the time, but I'm thankful that other people did. It was a harrowing evening! You can also look at some local video of the event HERE.

      I was oblivious to it all because I was watching the Tennis Channel all day. The Tennis Channel is not a local channel for us. So, I wasn't getting any weather updates in the crawl across the bottom of the screen...which we 'do' on local channels when there's some kind of local news or weather.

     What we 'did' get was a text message from hubby's brother. He was kinda frantic...if you can be frantic in a text message!...because he knew about a tornado touching down in the Springfield area, where their mom lives!! He said he couldn't get a hold of her!

    Hubby called his mom. She answered!...PHEW!...She was fine. She just missed the tornado though! She had been at work and decided to go home...walking! One of the the tornadoes hit on the street she walked home on!! But didn't come on her street!

     We turned the channel to the local news and WOW!!! They had LIVE footage of one of the tornadoes forming! It was swooping up water off of the side of the West Springfield area bridge. It was awe-inspiring to watch on the screen! (They have video of it on the news site I referenced above.)

    Let's just say though, that while it was pretty to look at....it was also scary! And the news people seemed to be as in awe as I was! Apparently no such tornado has touched down in our area since the 1950s sometime!!!  And these were POWERFUL tornadoes!!

       Not to mention that the tornadoes weren't the only thing produced by this storm! It was raining...pouring! The winds were howling. It was thundering and lightening...and HAILING!!!

    And as the storm went on, people were sharing bigger and bigger hailstones!

       Four people, so far, have lost their lives. There's remarkable damage...building roofs ripped off, houses sheered in half, tons of trees thrown everywhere, vehicles destroyed or flipped over...

     ...and people hurt as well. I hear that the local hospitals were packed last night. The governor declared a State of Emergency, and all of the schools are closed today. They're trying to get the roads and things cleared up and assess the complete damage...which they say will take a while. :-( 
       It happened right in the middle of 'rush hour' traffic! Some people were in their cars and had to watch the tornadoes' damage happening right before their eyes, coming from an eery yellow sky! 

 

      Now I know, from personal knowledge, that it's one thing to hear about 'other' people experiencing this kind of thing, versus it happening in 'your own' town and neighborhood! My dad called to tell me about friends and family who were, at the time he called, trying to assess and remove damage from their properties. But no one was physically hurt. I'm thankful for that, because it came REALLY close to where they live. 

    'Good Morning America' just came on and I see that our area made the world news! WOW! I'm gonna go and see if I missed anything....I hope you all have a better day than we did yesterday!!
    The poem I'm sharing again today is from a Tsunami a few years back...I'm feeling the emotions of this again today. :-(

Taken By A Wave

The Tsunami hit the land-
The southern Asian island home,
where vacationers and natives
used to sunbathe and beachcomb.

An earthquake, under water,
made the waves rise up so high
that those walking on the beach
just could not believe their eye.

The waves that always had a limit
as to just how far they'd  go
just kept coming-Farther-Farther,
with a never-ending flow.

People running for their lives;
Some surprised and could not run!
Homes and bodies floating by;
And when it all was said and done,

There were the eyes of the survivors,
The tears for those they could not save;
The parents looking for their children
at the edge of the wave.

The injured and the missing;
The disease and loss of life;
The unclean drinking water
and the anguish and the strife.

And as if all of this pain
wasn't  heartbreaking enough-
There were predators and looters
to steal the rest of their stuff.

But, just as an observer,
seeing images on the news
of the children-Oh, the children!
I know that this will leave a bruise.

A bruise upon their playfulness,
Their sense of safety-free from care;
A bruise upon their trusting nature,
that no longer will be there;

A bruise upon their hopefulness;
A bruise upon their being brave;
A bruise not even time can heal;
It all was taken by a wave.