Still Snowing Here and It Doesn't Stop!

Dumped a foot on us last night. The '06 Miata made it about a hundred yards down the road before the snow started to plow up over the hood. Back to the barn she went and out came the F350. I hate to drive it to work (mileage stinks) but I never would have gotten out of our area without the four wheel drive.

Burning some fir in the stove. It's wet and pops like jiffy pop, but it burns and lasts better than the aspen. Home depot has compressed wood fiber stove logs, 6 for $3.85, so I'm putting one of those in the middle to get it stabilized and burning good. I'll buy the whole pallet if the price drops to $2 a bundle (30 lbs per). There is a premium price on cured firewood out here - Bidding starts at $150 per cord for pine! No oak, but if you're lucky you can find a city tree that has to come down. Those are all old elms and burn great. Each piece of elm takes two wedges to split however : (

Just finished shoveling the driveway. Skis n gear come this week. Excited! Never thought I'd be frequenting the ski shops! Hopefully we'll get them and start using them before the snow is gone (smirk). Our dude behind the counter at the ski store had lived in Mechanicsville for a while - go figure. Says he's really relieved to be back in Idaho.

I'll get busy with more pictures soon, so be sure to check at least once a week. Getting up before 4AM doesn't let me get much time for artistic efforts.

I Now Know What Cold Is

Yes Virginia, it is cold in Idaho in January. Right now I sit in the living room of our house at 4PM and the thermometer is reading 6 degrees above zero. When I left for work this morning it was 15 below zero. All this above and below zero stuff makes my head hurt. This is also dangerous cold weather. You can get frostbite in temps like this. Last week I was out shoveling and lost the feeling in one of my fingers. That is a strange sensation; very similar to coming home from the dentist, except you haven't gotten a shot of anesthetic. I happened to be wearing gloves that had the fingers cut out, you know for more dexterity? Won't be using them anymore this winter!

Yesterday Karren and I met a couple of friends and watched them set off on cross country skis. It looks very interesting and we may try it soon. Trying to hobble through the foot deep snow behind them was not fun though. We will need to find an outdoor winter activity for middle-aged fat people, one that won't put us both in the hospital or require emergency calls to a helicopter for evacuation. We can rent equipment from the university cheap, so we can try out different stuff and see what we like. I can see this being a great way to get out and get some real Cardio exercise. We could start out just making a trail around our property. Seems like every hobby we get is expensive though.

Today there was a cattle drive down the road in front of the house. It is fun to see the cowboys on horseback with their herding dogs, driving the cattle forward. The herd had a large cloud of steam overhead, due to the single digit temperatures. It was a romantic sight straight out of the old west and it made me feel like a part of the culture. I got so distracted I forgot to take a picture until they were down the road a ways. If you look closely you'll see the fog over the clump of cows and horses.

Snow is a daily occurrence during January in Southeast Idaho. Even if there isn't actual snow falling, there will be "freezing fog" that drops ice crystals out of thin air. When the light is angled just right there is an amazing interplay of tiny diamonds and colors when this happens.

When the wind is not blowing it is actually fun to be out in the cold, as long as you are moving/doing something. Today I shoveled our entire driveway and sidewalk with no ill effects. I still haven't gotten used to my breath freezing and forming ice in my mustache. The snow itself is quite different from what I've ever experienced in Virginia. When it gets dirty it still acts like snow. The snow on the roadways does not turn into slush, even in the middle of the day. Because of the cold temps it remains frozen as snow and stays there until the plows push it out of the way or the wind blows it off. Often, the cars and trucks themselves blow the highways clean.

"Hear the snow crunch, see the kids bunch" etc. Yes, the snow really does crunch, no matter where you step. Shoveling this white stuff is a breeze compared to fighting with the snow back east. A shovel full of snow only weighs a pound or two, not twenty to forty. It is so dry that it is impossible to form a snowball. Karren is very upset at not being able to make a snowman. However there is a home in McCammon that has one in their front yard, although it is a bit deformed. She wants to go and ask them how they did it.

We are expecting temps in the 20's by the end of the week. It will feel like summer! I'll be able to get in the car when I go to work and not have to worry whether my drink will freeze before the car warms up. I usually have to finish whatever I start drinking on the way to work, because if I leave it in the car while working it is frozen solid when I get off. It sucks to have to go buy another drink because the one you have is frozen!

Well, life goes on here in the frozen wastes. Everyone says the rest of the year is worth the price paid during the winter. I think the jury is still out on that one! I only hope that by the next time I write I still have all my fingers and toes. Have you ever watched those shows about the climbers on Mt. Everest? You know, the ones where they are always stressing the real life drama of people trying to avoid frostbite in 20 below temps? Reality check: I live that now! So keep me in your prayers and think warm thoughts. Maybe the global warming fairy will show up around here sometime soon and give us some relief.

And I thought the guy that was helping us move in was joking when he mentioned thirty below here in Marsh Creek Valley...

P.S. It's snowing again...

Deep Winter Has Arrived in Idaho

Yes, Virginia there is snow in Idaho during the winter. The snow started last week and didn't really stop until today. There were no real snowstorms, just continuous light flurries that would sometimes last for hours or more. The temps have settled into a pattern of 20's during the day and single digits at night, so there is no real melting happening. This keeps the snow light and fluffy, and it crunches beneath your feet as you walk. We now have about 8 - 12 inches of the stuff, yet it is hard to tell exactly because of the influence of the wind blowing it into small drifts.

The surrounding countryside is a winter wonderland and provides a stark beauty. When it is this cold, things are not wasting any energy. You can see a small knot of black angus cattle on the far hillside, huddled for warmth. These cows have to eat and keep their internal furnaces going nonstop in order to survive. The creek is not frozen over yet and the ducks have been playing in the water. Bald eagles are frequent visitors to our pasture and are competing with the hawks for rodents. Pheasant are still all around us and visit each evening across the street from our place.

Yesterday Karren and I put new handles on the kitchen cabinets, replacing the old wooden knobs that the previous owners had installed. They were a lime green, sort of vomit color and they were bugging me badly. GONE! With the exception of five large drawers we replaced them all. We prefer these types of handles to knobs because they won't snag clothing. I got them on closeout from Home Despot. Cabinet hardware can end up costing hundreds of dollars and we were fortunate to find a great deal on these basic but serviceable handles ($8 for 10 handles).

We had Jabba the Hut install them... no, wait! That's me! Too many cookies and disease have plainly taken its toll.

After we had the new handles on we felt more compelled to clean the place. A solid week of flu had left us devoid of energy and the dishes had piled up to record heights. I think this house is beginning to look a bit better on the inside too. Can't wait until I can score a better paying gig in order to pay for some future planned work. We still have to renovate the upstairs and downstairs baths, replace the living room floor, redo the kitchen walls, cabinet doors and the lighting, and much, much more. All we need is the capital to do it.

Next time read about our continuing struggle to survive the harsh winter in, "Shooting the Yeti off the Porch" or "The Miata's in the Ditch Again!" Until then, keep your powder dry. The Zombie apocalypse is near. Thank goodness we're in Idaho, a place not very friendly to zombies (they freeze quickly since they have no internal heat source).