Winter, continued

A month or so ago one of our neighbors commented that it had been a long time since I had posted anything. This surprised me. Not the part about it being a long time (I knew that) but the part about anyone noticing. Never having figured out how to tell if anyone is reading this, I assumed no one did. I stand corrected.

So there is lots of catching up to do. Here's a start.

Tom and I braved the after-Thanksgiving crowds to buy a new dishwasher. It turns itself off when the cycle is complete and has not threatened in any way to burn the house down, so we consider this a highly successful replacement.

The two big houses on the street that were on the market for so long have both sold and one has been occupied for a while; I'm not sure about the other one. I haven't yet met the new owners of either one. The weather has been cold and I have been busy - less time walking the dog or walking to the movie store or to the farmer's market or to Alon's - so I am not as up to speed on who is where as I used to be. Hopefully work will be better and the weather warmer soon! But it's good to not have empty houses on the street, so we are glad that these particular bits of residential real estate are off the market and providing a home for families.

But two houses are on the market - Amy has already moved to Grant Park, and a bigger place, and her house is for sale, as is another house up the street - new baby, need more space.

We had a snow day this month. The snow started falling on Friday afternoon, and by the time I got home from work, there was enough snow that the sleds were out, and the kids were converging on the hill at the church. It is a perfect place for sledding, with steep downward slopes that are away from the street. Iain went through a couple of changes of clothing before he came back, chilled and exhausted and exhilirated, the way 11 year old boys are after an hour of two of throwing snowballs with a group of other boys.

I heard on the national news either that evening or the following one that 49 of 50 states in the United States - all but Hawaii (which is a state, by the way) - had measurable snow that day. There was video of Mobile, Alabama, with less snow than Atlanta but children who were even more excited, and the inevitable report from Hartsfield-Jackson airport. That was the storm where the Washington, D.C., area got 30 inches of snow, and the talking points on global warming were revised to say that the storm proved that no such thing was happening.

The gravel is still on Cumberland Road from the ice storm that preceded the snow. The squirrels have learned to raid my suet feeder, and at least one of them has mastered jumping onto the window feeder. So the suet feeder is left empty, until Tom can find me a piece of sheet metal to protect it, and the window feeder is moved up higher.

Friends move out of the neighborhood; new people come. Kids on sleds. Squirrels on my birdfeeders. I'm looking forward to spring, this year more than usual. It's not been a good winter, with the economy, and the pandemic, and all the cold weather. It's time to start looking forward to warmer weather, spring planting, and nesting boxes for the birds. More time outside. Walk the dog. Meet the new neighbors. Plan a block party. The dishwasher still works, and winter won't go on forever.