Blizzard?

Yesterday the only thing on the news besides the death of Kim Jong Il was an anticipated blizzard. I am not sure how the news people and the weather people can keep going on and on and on about snow and ice; snow and ice happen every year, it's not a freak lava flow barreling down on us.

And the snow arrived yesterday in the form of pouring rain. All day long. Lots of wind, too. I was out running errands and thought to stop by the grocery to pick up a few odds and ends in case the deluge did indeed turn into a week-long apocalyptic white-athon. I picked up a bag of potatoes, two gallons of milk (the college boy is home for the holidays), two chickens (the college boy is home for the holidays), and such. I ended up with a cartload of food. (The college boy is home for the holidays.)

The cashier asked if I would like help out w/ my bags? Why, yes, that would be nice, I replied. As the sacker girl sacked my groceries, I readied my umbrella and gloves. And as soon as the cart was full of bags, I pushed it forward to get out of the way of the next person in line. The sacker stepped behind me and said, "I will follow you!"

Hmm.

So as I fumbled, one-handedly pushing the cart and one hand on my umbrella in the pouring rain and wind, this sacker girl gamely walked me to my car. And stood there as I fumbled with the car keys, the umbrella, and the cart - which was listing in the wind toward the side of the car next to mine. And then the sacker girl and I loaded my car with the groceries. At this point, my umbrella had turned inside-out in the wind, and the bags were wet and I just wanted to get in the car. I politely thanked the sacker girl (for the company??!) and hopped in the car.

Once back home, that Spouse o' Mine played sacker boy and hauled all the groceries through the pouring rain and into the house for me. While he did that, I walked across the road to our mailbox, with my inside-out umbrella sort of doing its job. A car slowed down and rolled down its window. I didn't recognize the car or the driver. She yelled, "I like your..." and between the rain and wind and her car noise, I could not understand what she liked about me. My soaking-wet leather boots? My white rabbit fur Elmer Fudd hat? My inside-out raintree umbrella? The skis on our porch railings?

Whatever it might have been, between that and having all the groceries in the house, the day ended on a positive note or two, or three, if I count my eager anticipation for the inches and feet of snow accumulation I kept hearing about on the TV and radio.

This morning I woke up and went to the window: it was...sort of white. But not really. No drifts. No white-topped trees. No whiteout conditions, to be sure.

Now, I am sure there are people out there who are relieved that we missed out on a blizzard.
But I am not one of them.

Lying in wait...

The Week Before Christmas: A Poem

'tis the week before Christmas and all through the yard,

All the flora and fauna are working unseasonably hard.

The ducks think it apropos a baker's dozen to lay,

The wallflower is blooming as if it were May.

The kitties are outdoors and playful to boot;

The eldest, Miss Puzzle, is terribly cute!

The weathermen are warning: Get snug in your homes!

Bundle Up! Wear hats! Dress like the gnomes!

For out on the lawn there will be such a blizzard,

Your chooks* (if you had some) will freeze their gizzards!

Either the birds and the blooms sense what is to come,

Or their common sense is keeping it mum.

Whatever the outcome, whatever the storm,

Christmas is a' coming,

And here's wishing you warm.

(heh heh...)

*Chook: [chook, chook] noun 1. Australian . a hen.

Return Trip

This morning I awoke to a feeling I have not experienced since my flight attendant years, ages ago. I must have opened one eye, saw a light, and then shut my eye again.

Where was I?

Back when I was flying to Europe every week, I taught myself not to move in my bed in the morning until I had discerned exactly where I was: London? Lisbon? Athens? I guess I should preface this by explaining just how disconcerting it is to awaken, get up, go to the toilet and not know where one is. So I taught myself early-on not to move out of the bed till I was sure of my surroundings and the language I should be listening for.

This morning, I saw a light, and I could not make out where I was or what the light was. After a night in Frankfort, Va, four nights in Richmond, Va, a night in Charleston, WV, and a night in Paducah, KY, I hadn't a crack of dawn clue. I took it for the bathroom light, but indeed it was the morning sunrise at the opposite side of the hotel room, , and that meant I should be up and at 'em. So up I arose and at 'em I went: 9 hours of driving home.

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig.

After the morning sunrise, the majority of my day and drive was spent in either dense fog, heavy rain, or a mix. Welcome home, yessirree.

But when I actually got home, what was there to greet me?

A Christmas tree, up in its stand, and ready for decorating.

And THAT, is a homecoming.

Quilts! Kentucky!

This morning I left the Appalachians and headed west-southwest (a small meander) towards home. But my plan was to enjoy Kentucky throughout the day. What a pretty state!

Our equestrian kids and I made a few treks years ago to the USPC (Pony Club) Nationals in Lexington. Horses, camping, dewy fog, and humidity are top slots in my memory of those trips. Well worth the time and effort, in my opinion. And it was A LOT of effort, if I recall.

Today I drove through horse country, marveling at the gorgeous horses in gorgeous paddocks and fields and well-maintained barns and dark wooden fences.

Then I headed south a bit, to Paducah. If you are a quilter, you may know that Paducah is home to the American Quilt Museum. And that was the draw for my afternoon: exhibits of quilts made by real quilters. Let me tell you, those quilts were wonderful.

Like Montecello, this was a "must-see" on my trip.

I have one (1) pair of clean socks left in my suitcase, and that means that tomorrow is my return trip home. Good thing! I have a son to greet (having only seen him once since LAST winter!), a Christmas tree to acquire and decorate, as well as the entire household. And a homemade gift to complete for our big family Christmas celebration in Oklahoma this coming weekend.

Busy, busy.
And, fun, fun.

Southern Style

We Armstrongs tend not to plan too far in advance for our travel fun. In fact, it makes me queasy to make big arrangements for far, far into the future. It is so much simpler to grab a bag and GO! It is more difficult to do this with kids and their schedules, and animals of all species to deal with, but here we are, that Spouse o' Mine and I, with a nest empty of chilluns, and a barn empty of equines, and the logistics are evolving into a simpler plan, that of dogs, cats and ducks. And fish.

And that's all.

"Paul, we should go to Virginia next week."

And so, we did! We drove an SUV-load of furniture/furnishings out to the College Grad Claire, and spent a whirlwind weekend experiencing the big southern city. What fun! Claire and her boyfriend Rich are perfect hosts and tour guides. Good food from their kitchen, good tours of the city and surroundings, and fun evenings spent with kitties and the chiminea.

Saturday morning, the men went one way (cycling group ride) while we two women went the other: the Richmond Fan District Holiday Home Tour. Although I think both pairs had a good time, I can only comment on our experience. We Holiday Home Tourists enjoyed seeing big homes down in the older part of Richmond - ca. 1900s. They were very pretty! Some were nicer than others, in my opinion. I have to laugh at an observation: It seems that fur coats were the costume de rigeur for Saturday's Home Tourists. Claire & I were woefully out of place in our down coats. Who knew?!

On Sunday morning, Claire & Rich took us to a neat little hole-in-the-wall eatery, Perly's, in downtown Richmond, and then over to Belle Isle, where we got to view the rushing water of the flooding James River up close and noisy! Rushing flood waters are really loud - something I did not notice until we returned across the footbridge to Richmond, and could then hear the birds singing once again.

Belle Isle was used as a POW camp during the Civil War. So sad. Many men suffered through winters and died and were buried here. I think of them as a mother reflects on her son.

After Belle Isle, we took that Spouse o' Mine to the airport, and he flew back home to rural Kansas. Nice thing about his homecoming was that our College Boy Graham was winging it from the west coast at the same time! They met (30 minutes between their arrivals) and drove back home together.

We other three drove over to Williamsburg and spent the afternoon traipsing around the old place. It's a restored model of the old Williamsburg settlement. One can see the old houses and businesses, which are inhabited by people dressed and acting as the original settlement people.
It's a little weird to approach one of these "actors". In that the ratio of 2011 people to 1700 people were approximately 30:1, the place felt a little "touristy". But an interesting aside was that some real 2011 people own and live in some of the old 1700 homes in Williamsburg, and they have all sorts of regulations as to car parks and such, in order to dovetail into the 1700-world. (e.g., cars must be removed from historic Williams from 9:00am-5:00pm each day. This is OK, if you have someplace to go each morning??) And I found myself peering into what I thought would be an historic home, when in fact it MIGHT BE a private 2011 home. How embarrassing!!) You can Google it - it's interesting.

William and Mary College is directly adjacent to Williamsburg, and the morning we were there, the W & M choir was out and about singing Christmas carols, and drawing us visitors in to join them. And so I did. As did many people surrounding the sidewalks. That was really nice!

This morning was a glorious (albeit it cold) morning spent at Montecello,
in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Now, this is a MUST-SEE for anyone and everyone.

So interesting to see Thomas Jefferson's big old house and all his fun scientific instruments and innovations and ideas, not to mention his gardens and grounds. We were fortunate to have a good tour guide (because I don't do tours well; Claire can concur on that one), and I kept on mental task for the entire 40-minute tour throughout the home without wandering off or embarrassing Claire or Rich. (I think; the same might not be claimed for the Fan District Holiday Home Tour...sorry, Claire...)

Tonight finds me in Charleston, West Virginia.
There are lots of Appalachian mountains to drive up and over in West Virginia.

The exciting thing this afternoon was the car that caught fire in front of me (not directly in front of me...~200 ahead), and first one, then two, then a third, and lastly, a fourth fire truck came to douse the flames. They would hose down the car, and it would look all right, but then the fire would start up again, they would hose it, and on and on. 40 minutes later, I was back on my way, points west. I had thought I would be in Kentucky tonight, but I do not drive well in the dark, and I really do not drive well on mountain curves in the dark, and I stopped short of my planned destination.

So here I am, in Appalachia.
Tomorrow, I shall have a look around the place.