Happy Spring Festival!

Will the winter ever end? Only the Groundhog can say. Will he see his shadow on Wednesday? Wow, I hope so. Of course that really doesn't mean we'll have an early spring, but we can always dream. But since we will be in the midst of another winter storm, I kinda' (kind of) doubt that the little varmit (animal) will see a shadow of any kind. It's still a nice thought.
Thursday is the first day of the Chinese New Year, also called the Spring Festival. We had an early celebration at the Library today, and a good time was had by all. Well, I can't speak for all, but I had a great time. Wonderful food and lots of good friends. All the women were beautiful, and all the men were homely (not so good looking), which was very good for me. I am kidding!
There were many handsome men, and all were better looking than me. Which actually was a good thing, because the women felt sorry for me, so I got a lot of attention.
But seriously, it was very heart warming to see all the smiling faces, and to see everyone enjoying themselves. And I have to give deep and heartfelt thanks to those who organized and worked so hard to put together what was a spectacular display of Chinese food and Culture.
Thank you all, my wonderful friends, and a very Happy New Year to everyone!

Snowiest Month in 106 Years

There's a lot of snow out there. Unbelievable. But they are opening the Library at 12:00.
So, I will have to clear off my car, and head on down there. Or maybe, I'll just put on a pair of snow shoes, and hike on down.
If they can open the Library, I quess I can get there.
Remember, winter may seem like it will never end, but eventually, Spring will come.

Sliding Around In My Automobile

The song actually goes, "Riding around in my automobile...", but today was definitely more like slipping and sliding. But as I found both yesterday and today, running errands and shopping was a breeze (an expression meaning easy). Mostly due to (because of) everyone being home.
So when will the snow go away? Definitely not today. The first storm basically has come to an end, and we are in a bit of a lull. But the next storm will arrive in the next couple of hours with a good bit more of the white stuff.
This January is now officially the snowiest month on record. Yep, if you like snow, this is definitely your month. There is a sign in front of a church that was on the news. It said, If You Are Praying for Snow, Stop it! I can understand the sentiment (feeling) behind that.
Anyway, I did make it to the Library today, and amazingly enough, so did three other people, not including Eleanore, who was also there. And they didn't even close the Library until 2 o'clock.
Incredible.
Well, if the Library is open tomorrow, I imagine I will be there again. As long as I can dig my car out. This will be a winter to remember. Assuming it ever comes to end. Yikes, suppose it doesn't. What if spring never comes? Maybe the world doesn't end in fire, or ice. Maybe, it ends in lots, and lots, of snow.
Nah. Snow way.

Home With Edgar

Edgar's back. He flew in last night all by himself. He's turning into quite a world traveller. It's good to have him home.
My evil twin, Jack, is still in Bora Bora. I have no idea when he will be back. Maybe not until the spring.
Speaking of Spring, it's almost Chinese New Year, which actually is the Chinese Spring Celebration. It is THE Chinese Holiday. A time to celebrate family, food, and life. It is kind of like a combination of the American holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. And I can only hope that everyone has a wonderful beginning to the Chinese New Year.
As far as our coming spring, here in New England, it can't come fast enough for many of us. This has a been a very cold and snowy winter so far, and we're only one month into it. Yikes. According to the tv, the temperature in Norwich, Connecticut, early yesterday morning was -10 fahrenheit. This morning it was warmer. It might have been in the single digits, but it at least it was above 0.
Currently we are getting a couple of inches of snow, which should be ending within the hour. Then, in late afternoon tomorrow, we will be getting our next storm, which will deliver snow, ice, mixed precipitation, and ending as snow with possibly a foot or more. Of course, as is always true with predicting the weather, they are just taking their best guess at the moment. Predictions, like the weather itself, can change at any time.
Be safe out there, and remember to stay out of trouble!

Snow Day

Well, it seems the Library is closed today, so I will miss seeing my friends. It wasn't really much of a snowstorm. I don't know how much we actually got, maybe 3 or 4 inches at most.
So, what do you do on a snow day? Many of you, I know, still have to go to work.
Me? I am going to read the paper, then practice a little Chinese Mandarin on the computer. Sometime after that I will go out and clean off my car. The rest of my day will be devoted to one of my favorite activities, reading. That's a-a-a-all-lll, folks! (That's how they would end Looney Tune cartoons).
So, for you who I would have seen at the Library, I will miss you. And for all of you, enjoy your day, and as always, please try to stay out of trouble. (Later, maybe we will hear from my evil twin, Jack, who is in Bora Bora with Edgar.)

There's No Ice in Bora Bora

It's beautiful here in Bora Bora. Edgar and I are enjoying the sun and surf, and making friends with the local birds. The feathered kind for Edgar, and the human kind in my case. (Birds is a British slang term for women.) We may stay here for a long time.
In the meantime, my friend, John, tells me he went ice skating in the street this morning. Or at least that's what his morning jog turned into. He didn't have much oportunity to enjoy the scenery. He was too busy watching where he put his feet, and then doing a combination of sliding and dancing so he didn't fall.
I'm so glad I'm not there. It's a clear and beautiful day here, in Bora Bora, and the water is so clear, you can see all the way to the ocean floor. Sigh. I wonder if I can become a citizen here.
John also told me, they are going to have another snowstorm on Friday in Connecticut. All those poor people. They don't know what they're missing.
What can I say? I'm having a wonderful time, wish you were here. Something like that.
But, whatever else you do, stay out of trouble!

How Cold is Cold?

Sometimes when I first wake in the morning, I turn on the tv before I even get out of bed. Like I did this fine Saturday morning. So what do I see? According to channel 3, it is -6 degrees fahrenheit. Yup, that's correct, 6 degrees below 0. Seeing that, didn't make me want to get out of bed. In fact, if it were possible, I would have gone back to sleep until spring. Maybe I could turn into a bear, and hibernate for the rest of the winter. That would be nice.
But since I can't, Edgar and I are going to do the next best thing. We are packing are bags, and taking long boat ride to the sunny beaches of Bora Bora. Now, I know most people in these New England states, when they flee the cold winter, usually go to Florida. But Edgar and I are not most people. We like to go to unusual and exotic places, where there aren't large crowds of people. When was the last time someone you knew went to Bora Bora?
Anyway, I have to say that most of the time the cold doesn't bother me terribly, but I have to draw the line when the temperature reads anywhere below 20. So, minus 6 degrees doesn't really make me happy. And Edgar, well, Edgar is a tropical bird, first of all. So he's not extremely happy with anything under 70 degrees. Second, the top of his head is very bald, and he refuses to wear a hat.
So, there you have it. We're on our way to Bora Bora. Don't worry, we'll be back in the Spring. See ya' then!

That's What I call A Snowstorm!

There has been a lot of talk about bad snowstorms over the past twenty or thirty years. Most of them were the equivalent of a brief summer rain shower, as far as I'm concerned. The storm that's slowly coming to an end right now, was definitely a snowstorm. But for me, it was just an average one. Statewide, Connecticut got better than twenty inches of snow. Here in Norwich, when all is said and done, we will have better than two feet of snow.
Now, you might find that impressive, but when I was growing up in rural Connecticut, this would have been little better than an average snowfall. I can remember being trapped in my parents' house during the blizzard of '60. If you went outside during the storm, visiblity was so bad, that you couldn't see your hand if you held it one foot in front of your face. In that storm, twenty-seven people in my small town, went outside, and never found there way back inside. Their bodies weren't found until after the spring thaw.
It was a bad storm. Even when it was over, it took two days to clear the doorways just to be able to open the door. There was a final total of just under nine feet of snow. There was simply too much snow to clear in any reasonable amount of time, so the whole town had to dig tunnels under the snow in order to get anywhere. I remember having to walk to school through snow tunnels. We saw so much white for awhile there, that for weeks after, when we saw bright colors it hurt our eyes. When the snow finally melted enough for us to see the sky, people would just stop and stare up in amazement, like they had never seen it before.
So, if you think this was a snowstorm, I can only laugh. The storm of '60, now that's what I call a snowstorm.

Insanity & Snow Storms

There is no question that the shootings in Arizona were a monumental tragedy. And it is pointless to try to find someone to blame. As the host of the Daily Show said last night, there have always been crazy people, and there always will be. And to paraphrase (repeat what he said but not exactly in the same words) him again, maybe we all (politicians and wannabe politicians especially) should stop talking like crazy people. That way it might be easier to tell who the real crazy people are. Enough. If you can catch a rerun of the Daily Show, it was said much better.
Another snow storm is on the way. A northeaster by the name of Benedict. And everybody knows, when a storm is given a name, it ain't good. Supposedly it will arrive around midnight tonight, and the snow will fly, while the wind is howling. It will be something to see, or so the they say. Of course, it will be a lot more enjoyable for those of us who can stay home. Which is what I plan to do. Edgar, also.
I can say with some certainty, that if the storm does arrive, and if it remains through tomorrow morning, the Library here will be closed.
And so, whatever you do, I hope it is enjoyable at the least, and spectacularly wonderful at the most.
If you do have to go into the outside world on the morrow, please be careful, and take extreme care. Remember, it's very difficult to see polar bears in snow storms.

Waiting For Snow

Well, here in southeastern Connecticut, they say the snow won't arrive until late afternoon. So I'm afraid all those terribly inconvenienced school children had to go to school. The good news for most of us adults, is the roads won't be difficult to travel, at least until this evening. And I will have no trouble going to the Library where I will continue to baffle and confuse all those brave and wonderful people trying to make sense of the English language. At least I have a really good time. In fact, I have so much fun, that it probably should be illegal.
And there isn't even a snowflake in sight, unlike New York City, where it is currently snowing. Well, I imagine we will get our share of the cold white stuff later on. I do like snow. I don't think Edgar does, but since he doesn't go outside (at least I've never seen him go out), I can't really ask him, since he doesn't really know about snow, other than what he can see through the window. And of course, I really can't take him outside to experience the snow, since I don't have a coat small enough for him. I don't think missing out on playing in the snow will bother him very much.

Long Distance Friendship

Any kind of long distance relationship is difficult for various (different, and usually several) reasons. Long distance love relationships are the hardest, and usually don't last. Friendships, at least with good friends, do last, but can present their own difficulties.
I just talked to my friends, Annie and her father Yuan, down around Philadelphia. It is difficult because Yuan's English is not always easy to understand, particularly on the phone. Annie's English is better, but she doesn't always speak clearly. It is much easier in person. Also, it is much more enjoyable in person.
I miss them, and miss eating dinner over their house when they lived right down the street. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult for me to visit them. I can't leave Edgar, my cockatiel, overnight, or take him with me, for health reasons. His health. Being as it's a four and a half hour drive, it would be too much for me to drive back & forth in a day. That would be for my own health reasons.
Life can be unfair, as we know. And not being able to see them, at least once in awhile, is not something I'm happy about. I can only trust that I will see them again. And in this world, not the next. Although I do hope to see them there, as well. But not in the near future. Knock on wood.
Good friendships are not so easy to find. I can only say, that for whatever reason, I am very lucky.

New Year's Resolutions

An old New Year's tradition is to make resolutions (goals we promise to accomplish) for the upcoming year. Many New Year's resolutions are unrealistic, and fail to be accomplished. But if we are going to make tough to accomplish resolutions, then why not go for broke (go all out; reach for the stars). So, this year, I am not only going to lose 30 lbs., but I am going to look twenty years younger. Not only will I eat a very healthy diet, but I will never get sick again. And, I will find my true love, who will turn out to be a princess, who I will marry, and live with happily ever after in a huge castle in a beautiful kingdom far, far away. Oh yeah, and I will also win 50 million dollars in the lottery. That should about do it.
So how about a realistic New Year's resolution. Here it is: this year I resolve to do the best I can in all things. I will try to be the best friend, son, brother, tutor, bird companion, neighbor, and human being that I am capable of being. And that, I believe, is about the best I can do.
Happy New Year, Everyone!