And in the News

And in the News, check out this, "Ice from airplane potty crashes through Calgary roof" for a bummer. I always try to wear a hat when I'm around a lot of birds, like maybe seagulls or something. But what can you do about this ? I always wondered about those Airplanes.

Cold Winter Nights

"Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 16. North wind between 9 and 11 mph." So says the National Weather Service. That seems cold to me. But this time we're ready, I hope. This is our pile of Fossil Fuel. Great lumps of Carbon, just waiting to be Oxidized. Mostly, we burn trees. They're "renewable" energy, and I've been told, "Carbon Neutral". But then, aren't those Carbon Lumps "renuable" if one waits long enough ? I mean, how did they get there in the first place ? By the way, those aren't tiny saplings in the picture, those lumps are really that big. They last a long time, and burn very hot. But that is just what The Fuzz wants in this old drafty house at 16 F.
This is the small heater we use in the back of the house, the West Wing, known as "The Condition". (But that's another story.)
It was fixin' to be lit early Christmas morning. I just liked the Picture and needed one for this post. So you get to see it. I think I'm just fascinated by fire and stuff. Maybe it's the contrast between light and dark.

Any how, the big stove is full of coal and wood. The Fuzz is full of Burritos. If he goes in there next to that thing he will probably fall asleep. But what's wrong with that on a cold winter's night ?

Frozen

Again I refer to a previous post, Home At Last, April 22. This is not a pictorial memory of last autumn, but in fact, April, 2007. Only a few weeks ago, these were tender young leaves welcoming Springtime to our land. But despite this "Global Warming", a mini ice-age brought destruction. When we returned from the Tropical Paradise, the first thing we had to do was light a fire in the heater.
I have never seen it like this before. Sure, we have late frosts that kill the plums or peaches, but this was on a whole new scale. Entire trees were frostbit. There were dead, brown leaves on the ground. I was beginning to wonder what would happen with all this new growth wiped out. But there is yet hope. This is a tiny bud, on the Fig bush. All is not lost after all. The trees are beginning to recover too. Perhaps Summer may come after all.

Home At Last

Alas, it was time to leave this Tropical Paradise. Off to the airport for that Homeward Bounder. This was one of those Night Flights. There at the Island Airport the USDA people ripped us off for our fruit snacks. Of course after security you could buy more fruit, they would sell you 3 pineapples for $23. We just let that one go.

Here is the Big Airplane we rode in all the way to Phoenix. I had hoped to sleep on this one, but not much luck there. Phoenix is where we had to change planes, airlines, and terminals. So it's back though security, where they strip search your feet. Phoenix is also where our luck began to change. After we all got onto, and into, the airplane, and even backed out of the gate, something went wrong with the airplane. The pilot said we must return to the gate. So we rode around in the airplane on the ground to the mechanic's privet work area. I think it was a good thing to fix the airplane before we were up in the air, even if it made us a hour late. It doesn't seem like a good idea to try to fly around in a broken airplane. But while we were waiting they gave us all free headphones so we could watch the TV and listen to the radio while we had to wait and worry about our connections. This was good 'cause now we could watch the in-flight movie for free. It was about Beatrix Potter, but I don't think she ever had to ride an airplane. Of course we missed our connection, but the airplane people took care of every thing and gave us tickets for the next one. And so after a short hop over the mountains, we landed in the Big City. Our bags even made it with us.
Now there was just a shuttle bus ride to our own vehicle. We found the car, and loaded the bags, and cranked it up, almost. The key fit OK, and even turned, but there was no reaction, zip, nada. Even as we were enjoying that Tropical Paradise, our battery was slowly dying there at the airport parking lot. We were stranded in a sea of parked automobiles. Finally a lady in an airport truck gave us a jump off. I got the impression that this is not uncommon. Then, there was the transmission problem on the way home. But I won't go into that now.
Apparently there was some cold weather while we were enjoying the sun and surf. This is what happened to the tender leaves on our fig bush while we were gone. But they'll come back.
It was a great trip, but of course, it's good to be home.