brrrr

It’s time for you to go, Winter

February 18, 2015

I’m so over winter

This is something many people in the Northeast are saying in recent weeks, that’s for sure. But I look at it in a different way. It’s not just because of the mounds of snow that might not disappear until July. It’s not the arctic temperatures that are more suited for Antarctica or the North Pole than in the Northeast.

Nope.

Winter might be pretty, but it gets old.

Then, why, you may ask? Well, it’s simple — I’m sick of being sick.

Allow me to count the ways I’ve been sick since the start of winter, which in my area is usually well before the Dec. 21 “official” date.

Common cold (usual)
Flu (unusual, especially considering I get a flu shot)
24-hour bug (unusual)
Stomach bug (unusual, and it piggybacked the 24-hour bug)

One thing to notice there — I usually only get since once a year or so, and it’s usually a doozy of a common cold. It’s something that will last about a full week and usually follows the same pattern. This year has been different.

The last two happened over the past weekend and forced me to burn a sick day. I’m actually writing this during that sick day, covered up on a recliner with my “writing” laptop. I’ve barely been on a computer since this past Friday night, so I’m trying to catch up on e-mails and other things.

Oh yeah, and it’s still bitterly cold out, though it’s been nice to peek outside and see sun and blue skies the past two days. I know better though — that’s just enough to pull you outside and then you freeze your tush off.

By the time this publishes, I’ll be back to work — thankfully.

For those who know me, I’m not much for taking sick days. At my previous job, I rarely took one, despite knowing I should at certain times. I felt guilty, even though me being there was probably worse than me not being there. Maybe it is how things were instilled in me.

Remember last year? That’s when I had the foot saga and had surgeries and such. I felt guilty taking sick days. I still do. But, with this week being a vacation week for the places I work (at least for students and teachers), I figured it wasn’t so bad if I called in sick when I actually needed that day. I’ve been exhausted!

What stinks about this whole bout is that I didn’t have the desire to be near a computer, let alone blog. That meant nothing up for the past few days, which is fine. Alas, it also broke a streak as I had posted something daily since late November. Now, it’s time to get back to the grind and get on another streak! Probably next week, though, as I might not be every day this week as I still get my “legs” back under me.

But, back to my original point — it’s time for winter to go. In my area, February traditionally seems to be our “harsh” month. Hopefully that holds true and March brings the upward trend of no snow and better temperatures. Allow this snow to slowly (we don’t need spring weather and rain or we’ll see some serious flooding in some areas) go away and the spring bloom to come to us… I think we’ve (and many parts of the Northeast) have earned it.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

It’s cold. Deal with it.

January 16, 2014

I’m not sure if people in the Northeast got the message recently or not, but it’s cold.

And, at times, it’s been downright frigid.

You know what, though? It’s the winter. Part of being in the Northeast during the winter is dealing with the cold. That includes snow, sleet, freezing rain, bad roads and … yes, cold weather.

Another piece of breaking news — bitter cold doesn’t mean the world stops moving.

The one thing that drives me nuts is this whole thing about wind chill. I get how it works and such, but just because the wind chill is supposedly -25 doesn’t mean that’s the actual temperature. That means, if the wind isn’t howling, it’s not that cold.

When I was a kid, we played outside when it was cold. We walked to school. We did things. It was part of life and growing up.

And, no, I didn’t walk uphill to school — both ways, despite a shirt I have that shows otherwise. But I know what it was like to go outside when it was cold out. We bundled up, went outside and played. Maybe we went sledding. Maybe something else. But we went outside.

This was coming home one early morning from a friend’s after a night of games. This is cold. And this isn’t wind chill!

Recently, we had a wave of cold weather. Really cold. It didn’t get out of single-digits for several days and, at times, the wind chill made it extremely cold out.

Some schools even closed.

That never would have happened when I was younger (though, to be fair, it probably would have made many of us celebrate). Not unless something happened at the school. Many schools stayed open, too. And it seemed — if you watched social media — there was a battle line drawn between parents who thought schools should have been closed and the others who thought differently.

It was quite entertaining, to be honest.

It also got me thinking. What does this necessarily say about the direction society is going. In a day and age when many more people get participation ribbons than ever before, are we softening things? It’s one thing to close school with snow … but cold? What’s next?

Let us remember that once the kids are at school, they are going to be taken care of and, hopefully, be warm. There’s also lunch and, in many places, breakfast. As for them getting to school, buses work other days, so why not when it’s cold? If kids walk, bundle up. Or, hopefully parents or others can give kids rides.

That being said, I respect a parent’s decision when it comes to keeping their child home. Though I don’t fully agree with keeping a student away from school because of obvious ramifications, I fully respect a parent making a decision they think is best for their child when it comes to elements such as weather.

Beyond the obvious, this can also set a bad precedent for the kids as they grow. What will they think when they go off to college or join the work force when it’s that cold out and they can’t skip work or classes? Part of school is being taught real-life things.

In the end, though, it’s cold weather. We’ve had it before, we’ll have it again. I do what I’ve always done — warm up my car a bit longer, dress a bit warmer and head off to work or wherever I am going.

And look forward to warmer weather, of course.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

The frozen tundra is here

January 24, 2013

Growing up in upstate New York, I’m used to cold winters.

This week has been brutal though.

The area seems to be struggling just to get out of single digits and we’ve had wind chill announcements for a couple of days now.

The National Weather Service’s weather report today for my town says: “Mostly sunny and cold, with a high near 6. Wind chill values as low as -17. Blustery, with a northwest wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.”

Brrr!

Fun times!

Since when did this part of New York turn into Alaska?

You laugh. Think I’m kidding?

According to the Weather Channel’s app on the iPhone, as of this writing, it’s 5 degrees in my town — with a wind chill of 12-below-zero. In Anchorage, Alaska, at the same time, it’s 27 degrees (feels like 22).

Now, I realize if you get to the top of Alaska in Barrow (which, strangely enough, is a place I’d actually like to visit), it’s 12 below (feeling like 31 below). But that’s extreme, right there.

I am not in Barrow. I’m in upstate New York. And heck, we’re actually closer to central New York than actually being way upstate, such as in Watertown (0 degrees/-13 wind chill as of now).

I’ll be fair and note there are some blue skies out there. It really does look inviting.

Alas, the NWS has issued a wind chill advisory in the area until 7 p.m. tonight (though from looking forward, I wouldn’t be shocked to see this change and become even longer):

A WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS ISSUED WHEN WINDS COMBINE WITH VERY COLD TEMPERATURES TO CREATE DANGEROUS CONDITIONS FOR EXPOSED SKIN. THE WIND CHILL IS EXPECTED TO BE COLD ENOUGH TO CAUSE FROSTBITE IN ABOUT 30 MINUTES OR LESS…AND COULD LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN. THOSE PLANNING TO VENTURE OUTDOORS SHOULD USE COMMON SENSE AND DRESS WARMLY…MAKING SURE THAT ALL EXPOSED SKIN IS COVERED.

That is absolutely a fun thing to read. Something tells me I should brave the weather to go start my car and let it run for a few though.

Relief appears to be coming soon, though. The next two days show a high of 15 — with the chance of 1-3 inches of snow tomorrow night, though! Cold and snow.

Ugh!

Sunday boosts to mostly sunny and a whopping 22. At some point midweek, they are calling for the 30s, as well as one day in the mid 40s (though with rain), before dropping back down into the upper 20s/low 30s. That’s what winter is supposed to be.

A friend sent me this photo — from 7:30 a.m. near the Cooperstown area. Yikes!

Not 5.

Though I hope it doesn’t get too warm for too long. I’m looking to go to a geocaching event next Saturday, and it’s on a frozen pond. So that warmer weather (in the 40s, anyway) and rain can kind of go away for a little while as this event sounds like a heap of fun.

But that’s still 10 days away. I’m more worried about now.

And staying inside where it’s warm. It’s a good thing I have a job hunt to keep me inside. Because if I had to be outside on a day like this, I think I’d be miserable.

Brrrr!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

The winter isn’t so bad after all

January 8, 2013

The winter isn’t so bad … for a short while.

Last year, my area was odd in the winter.

No snow. Warmer temps. And, well, the ability to head out and do non-winter things during the winter months.

For those who dislike the harsher winter weather, it was a slice of perfection. Well, kind of.

Though this year started out that way, winter has shown its face. And it’s been a bit ugly. In the week between Christmas and New Year’s, I used the snow blower three times — that’s two more times than last year. That one time last year probably didn’t even need to be done, but we got a wet snow and the plows pushed it all in the driveway. It was much easier to snow blow than shovel.

For those who don’t know, I recently interviewed for a job in the south. Despite high qualifications and, what I thought, was a pretty solid interview, I didn’t make it to the final round. Some day I’ll truly share that experiences, but for now, I’ll leave it be. Anyway, when I get deep into the job process, I’ll often research the place where the job is located.

After all, you want to know what you’ll be dealing with, right?

The place where I was looking had some long and hot summers. I can deal with weather as it comes, but it made me realize there would be a chance I wouldn’t experience four full seasons. It’s one thing I think some take for granted when we live in the Northeast. We get a healthy spring, a variety in the summer, usually a colorful fall and then winter.

Winter can truly be beautiful … at least for a little while.

We see it all.

During those seasons, we have the ability to go see different things — wildlife, nature and the such — that goes with each season. And, it also allows us to do many things. For those who are into it, there’s four-wheelin’ and snowmobiling. You can hike in different weather.

For me, I can play softball in the summer, disc golf in most seasons, geocache all year and get out and experience different things. A couple of years ago, I even had the chance to do some snow shoeing. I’d actually like to do that again, someday, but need to be able to get shoes that feel comfortable and work on my feet better than the ones I used.

As a photographer, it’s great, too.

Winter is actually, to me, the hardest season to shoot in. With bright white snow or whatever else, it can make it tough. But some of the images you can come away with are incredible.

Also, it’s quite nice to drive on some back roads after a fresh snow and see it sticking to tress. It’s a beautiful thing.

This area is expecting some warmer temps this weekend, so some of the snow we have might be looking to disappear. And, for all I know, most of the winter might be leaving. But no matter what, we got a bit of it this year and it’s not a bad thing.

Turns out, winter isn’t so bad after all.

I don’t know where life will eventually lead me, but I do know that no matter what, I’ll cherish some of these winters. The path I end up following might still take me to a warmer climate, so I might not always get the four seasons. Don’t get me wrong — the long winters are tough. But a decent winter isn’t too bad as it truly gives you a highly enjoyable slice of life.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!