Day: 03/14/2018

I’D RATHER BE IN HOBBITON, BUT I’D SETTLE FOR SAN DIEGO

/ Marilyn Armstrong / 89 Comments

I’D RATHER BE ANYWHERE IT DOES NOT SNOW

I LOVE THE SOUND OF SNOW PLOWS

We finished watching the third 4-1/2 hour piece of “The Lord of the Rings,” extended version last night. Given the weather, I pointed out that we could be trying to climb Caradhras, but Sauron was totally against it and we never made it.

For a variety of reasons — aching muscles maybe? — Garry didn’t find it nearly as hilarious as I did, but the man who shovels is allowed to get grumpy about it. Still, we were definitely atop Caradhras and the snow was not going to quit anytime soon.

There was no noise at all until we heard that wonderful sound, the sound for which I yearn all through the storms of the last two weeks: a plow clearing our driveway. There was an awful lot of snow out there, but the dogs, who go into a medium-level frenzy when trucks are in our drive, gave us a lot of energy. Gibbs is particularly noisy about two things: any kind of diesel-powered vehicle and my son, Owen, of whom he is insanely fond.

Duke and Bonnie in snow

Duke barks hysterically whenever the neighbors emerge from their house. He seems to believe they are about to intrude on our space. Also, they have dogs. Very big dogs. Really, huge dogs. English Mastiff and a boxer. They are really quiet, peaceful creatures who bother no one — except The Duke who gets extremely feisty in the face of Other Dogs Nearby. And they aren’t that near. It’s at least 300 feet from here. More, maybe. We have what is considered a really tiny plot of 2.43 acres of land. Next door, they have maybe 27 acres? Possibly more?

It doesn’t look real. I’m not even sure what bush that is. Rhododendron maybe?

A lot of people around here have a huge amount of land, but the majority of it is wild, thorny, rocky, and generally uninviting to walkers. No trails, either. So mostly, no one on two legs goes in there. No one goes there in the summer because you will be consumed by mosquitoes.

Many other creatures live there, though. Deer, raccoon, fishers, skunk, coyote, bobcats, squirrels, rabbits, bats, eagles and other raptors. Red-tailed hawks and owls. I almost never see them, but I hear woodpeckers constantly.

Foxes, chipmunks. Many fewer chipmunks since the arrival of the bobcat who is very fond of fresh chipmunk. Rats, mice, and some of the biggest spiders to make landfall since Shelob didn’t kill Frodo.

I yearn for New Zealand. If the world should bestow many dollars (or any other currency — I’m not picky) on us, that is the single vacation I would take. Fly to the west coast. Take a ship down the Pacific Ocean and land in some famed harbor. I know that’s the long way, but a cruise to New Zealand and a cruise back sounds like heaven to me.

We might never leave Hobbiton. Well, I suppose we’d have to. There are dogs and family and friends back here … but these days, not living in the U.S. doesn’t seem like such an awful idea. I’ve lived abroad before and I liked it, so it’s not that crazy, for me anyway.

Bonnie and Duke like snow. Gibbs was serious about the sofa.

If New Zealand is impossible, how about San Diego? Great weather. Beautiful beaches. One 5-hour flight and voilà. No more snow. Ever. Or we could go back to Israel. I’ve got a passport. As a citizen, I have — in theory — another home. But that may be my other country. It isn’t Garry’s and while he has nothing against a Jewish country — he’s put up with me for long enough — it might be more change than he is entirely ready for.

So in answer to two questions of the day — where would I rather be and what about noise? I’d like my dogs to shut up, but please, bring the snow plow. Then, send me to New Zealand.

IT WAS A HELL OF A STORM

/ Marilyn Armstrong / 29 Comments

I cannot begin to express how tired I am of winter. I was doing okay. Even through the last two nor’easters, I was alright. I figured after two big storms in less than a week and a half, we were done and spring was going to pop right out of the cold earth.

Trees heavy with snow
Snow busy!
The deck
Snow busy!

Not exactly.

This was a huge storm. We didn’t get the high winds that they got along the coast and down on the cape, but we got about two feet of snow and it’s pretty heavy. Because we didn’t get the wind, the snow is heavy in the trees and has not fallen off at all.

The trees are all bent over and I wonder how many of them are going to break. They are obviously stressed.

GARRY’S PICTURES

Photo: Garry Armstrong
Garry’s reflective selfie – Photo: Garry Armstrong
Duke
Photo: Garry Armstrong

Photo: Garry Armstrong

The dogs — at least The Duke and Bonnie — have been enjoying it. Gibbs is not much of a weather dog. He’s a “lay in the sun all day” kind of dog. He has a spot on a rock in the front of the house and he has been known to just lay there for hours soaking up the sun. So snow and ice … he doesn’t hate it, but he isn’t thrilled about it either.

Gibbs enjoying the snow

Bonnie, though, loves snow. Always has. She was a Halloween puppy and her whole upbringing was during one of our worst winters. I think her earliest memories are bounding around the yard in the snow while mom stands there in her night-gown, boots, overcoat, gloves, and hat begging her to do her thing so mom can go back to bed. Three in the morning in a foot of snow with a howling wind was not the optimum time for puppy training. But it got done and Bonnie was left with a genuine passion for snow.

Digging out

Duke probably never saw snow until he moved here, but he has been having a lot of fun with it, finally. Once he decided that cold feet wasn’t such a big deal after all.

Meanwhile, it looks like another universe out there. I have never seen snow so heavy lying on the trees and not falling off. Usually, the snow falls within an hour after the snow stops, but when darkness fell, it was still up there in the trees.

SHARING THE WORLD – THE NIGHT BEFORE A BLIZZARD

/ Marilyn Armstrong / 9 Comments

Share Your World – March 12, 2018

If a distant uncle dies and you were always his favorite and leaves you $50,000 (any currency) in his will, what would you do?

Aside from having no distant uncles with any money … or for that matter, actually not having distant uncles of any kind, the likelihood of this approaches zero on a very close order. Moving into the realm of sheer fantasy, I would pay all the credit cards and the car.

With the remaining money, remodel the bathroom and put down a new kitchen floor. Get someone to paint the inside of the house. Hire a gardener! And finally, get someone to come in and clean once a week. If there was any money left, get rid of the crappy old rugs and put down good dog-proof flooring.

By now, I think I ran out of money  and am probably in debt.

What sound or sounds do you love? 

I would do better telling you what I don’t love.

Opera. Lyric soprano voices. Pop music where everyone shouts and no one every really sings. Music without melody and songs without rhythm.

Concert tonight!

Any noise that is loud. I don’t care what it is. Music or just noise. To me, if it’s loud enough, I don’t like it, so I’ve never been much of a rock concert fan. People who sing a little off-key. You know, one of those voices that’s always a quarter of a tone flat and the singer doesn’t know it. It makes me grind my teeth.

What’s your middle name?  Why?

I don’t have a middle name. My sister got a middle name. My brother had a middle name. They barely managed to find a first name for me. But considering the middle names of many of my friends, I’m probably better off without one.

What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week? 

My birthday was lovely. Cards and good wishes and watching Lord of the Rings — the extended version, if you please.