Cold, Cold, Cold

In this post: The coldest stretch of the winter so far, a truck breakdown outside our house, a new photo from friends, and a few new scans of old negatives. Moving on…

NE Iowa is making up for a mild December with a cold, cold January. With temperatures reaching -17, the National Weather Service had issued wind chill advisories (-10 to -35) and wind chill warnings (down to -45) this past week. Needless to say, we are going through propane (furnace) at a fairly good clip. The good news is temps are expected to moderate this week, beginning tomorrow.

Both of us grew up in Wisconsin, so we knew what we were in for when we moved to Iowa. Schools closed (or had delayed starts and early release) and events were canceled due to the cold conditions. Since we no longer have to commute, the weather has less of an effect on us than it might have had in the past. The dogs sure don’t like it, though.

Friends: We received a photo of our good friend Hank from his grandson Martin and his wife Monica. This was taken last Thanksgiving, and Hank is now 96!

I should mention that Felicity and Toby have middle names of Elinor and Henry, named after Hank and his (deceased) wife Ellie, so their names live on in our children.

Excitement @ Heart House: Friday is garbage pickup day for us, and we were surprised when the truck pulled up outside our place and stopped. After several minutes of non-movement, I walked out to see what was going on. The driver informed me the alternator had quit and the truck was dead. He had “someone coming.” He was later picked up so did not spend a lot of cold time in the truck’s cab.

The truck sat for several hours until a heavy wrecker arrived. The wrecker driver hooked up to the garbage truck and hauled it away. The sanitary service is based out of Charles City, about 25 miles away, and that was the truck’s destination.

Passing the time: Since we are mostly indoors, I decided to scan a few old negatives. This one is from 1974, just after Pam and I were married.

We were living in our “Cathedral ceiling” single-wide in Menomonie, Wisconsin, and driving the 1946 Plymouth I had left over from my high school days. Note Pam waving from the door’s entrance platform.

These negatives have suffered over the years from poor storage conditions, frequently in hot attics. I do have them sleeved in negative holders, but time, heat, and humidity have taken their toll.

Moving ahead quite a few years, here is Pam at work in March of 1990. That is a photo of Felicity and Toby under the calendar at left. We were living near Madison, Wisconsin at the time.

And, finally, an “artsy” shot of a bullfrog taken in the late ’70s.

So the time passes with small tasks and projects. Scattered in are trips to the vet and grocery shopping. Snow removal (two storms this past week, one minor, the other dropping about 4 inches of white stuff) gave me outside exercise. Winter life is slower than summer life!

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

Cat news: Snickers was successfully spayed this past week. AJ has a spay appointment this coming Thursday. Once AJ recovers, I can finally retire the “condo” cat pen that’s been in the house for six months.

Dog news: All three dogs are continually picking up ice particulates in their paws when outside, causing them to limp back to the door. Blondie has to be assisted up the steps and into the house. It’s just too darn cold.

Squirrels and birds: Keeping the bird feeder topped and the ice off the heated water bowl outside is a constant effort. It’s the deep midwinter — as a song describes it, “…earth as hard as iron, water like a stone.”

Happy Trails.