First sticking snow of the season last night here at Roseholme Cottage. (I say "sticking" because the dreary misty rain of a week or so ago had some suspiciously fluffy white drops hitting the windshield of the Subie.)
With no more trees in the front yard, leaf cleanup there isn't that big a deal this year, but now I'm going to have to wait a day or two for the leaves in the back yard to dry out.
You too, huh?
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I work in a climate controlled lab and not on the deck of a ship anymore.
Days like these SUCKED offshore.
yeah...it hits Rosehome Cottage on it's way to my area, south of Dayton. I am SO not ready for this. Have been hoping for one more day to ride my Honda...upper 60's and sunny will do it for me. Don't look like it's going to happen...
ReplyDeleteForecast low for Birmingham tonight is 26F. Might be slightly colder out in banjo country where I live.
ReplyDeletePlanning to have Carrol Shelby's chili tonight with beer rolls on the side and build a big fire in the fireplace.
I might clean some of the guns I dirtied up over the weekend. I had three days in a row of range time :)
Weather people just stated that we can forget about natural stuff falling out of the sky this month, here in N. CA. Looking like another dry year, they think.
ReplyDelete70F+ today, in the San Jose area.
A little snow came down last night in Ann Arbor. Just enough to cover the leaves and fall detritus with a coat of white, but not enough to bury them. Quite pretty, actually, especially because it got cold enough for the snow (and a little rain) to stay. Unfortunately that same cold turned the freeways into a demolition derby. That thing about "bridges freeze before roads" is true. Going eastbound on the beltway I saw flashing blues and the yellow lights of a tow truck in the west bound side about half a mile away. EB traffic was slow too. Damn gawkers, I thought to myself. Not necessarily the case: as I got to the bridge there was a mid-sized SUV in the far left lane smashed up against those big concrete barrier things. My first thought was "How the hell did that thing jump the barrier? And land upright!!" assuming it was part of the WB accident. It wasn't, just another near simultaneous loss-of-control accident on the same bridge. Also, the middle lane was blocked by the SUV's bumper which had calved off the mothership. Going by the SUV the dome light was on and there appeared to be some sort of haze or smoke in the car. I pulled over (left) a couple hundred feet past the SUV (no need to be parked next to the thing if it caught fire) and went to see if the occupants needed help. Nearly fell ass over teakettle on the ice-slick pavement. Well, that explained the accidents.... Driver was the sole occupant, shaken up but said she was okay, and calling for help on her cell phone. The "smoke" was apparently some sort of powder from the airbag deployment. So nothing for me to do then. I wished her well, dragged the bumper out of the middle lane to the barrier and headed gingerly for my car.
ReplyDeleteA young man had pulled over in the interim and came to see if I needed help (ah, flyover country where people are helpful and nice). Nope, all good, or good as could be. The young man had an inspiration and shouted over the barriers to the highway cop who was wrangling the accident on the other side. The cop took her life in her own hands and ran across the WB lanes, shining her Maglite toward oncoming traffic as if it was some sort of talisman. She had been so absorbed with the WB problem she never even noticed the EB spinout. You could see her eyes get real big taking in the mangled SUV, then the pained resignation that she was going to have to wrangle another accident in the dark and freezy.
A mile down the road the entire flying ramp to M14 was closed off with 4 fire trucks and a whole bunch of police cars. So we all took the next exit to get around the problem area. Going on the dry bridge over US23 in the process. Sure enough the guy in front of me spun out, fishtailed into my lane, did a near 360 into on-coming traffic, then back into his own lane. Like something out of a movie. I felt really bad for the police and EMTs last night.
I'm pretty sure I owe you some beers for using up all your electrons like that. Waiting for my flight and nothing to do ....