I think of every year as a new beginning. My life theme is something like, “Be at war with my vices, at peace with my neighbors, and let the new year make me a better person.” Well, 2022 certainly started out with a flash. It arrived with the onset of a snowstorm. Within a day or so into the new year, after stopping by to visit Rosemary and bring her milk, I found myself on an icy hill picking up speed with no control of the truck. It was a long treacherous hill and I realized I had to ditch the truck to stop it before I reached 50 mph. Selecting a place to ditch I tapped the breaks and cranked the steering wheel. I flew into the ditch unharmed. So icy were conditions it took me about half hour to gain highway 141 which intersected the hill I was careening down. I do not recommend this method as a means of starting an exciting new year.
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Shortly after that incident the full force of the storm hit and I awoke to 24 inches of new snow and it kept on coming. When all was said and done I was surrounded with three feet of snow. Let the fun begin!
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It isn’t all bad. Teagan, Latah, and I had lots of fun making the most of it; snowshoeing, sledding, walking to the school bus stop.
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Latah literally wore the snow disk out that day. She spent all afternoon sliding off every precipice she could find in the area.
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Now the rains have come and it is just plain nasty outside. My friends, Kathy and Ed, had their pergola come down. About 4 AM yesterday the pergola on the side of the house next to the kitchen crashed down. It crushed a table and chairs set, took out part of the railing and has blocked the side door. Drat the luck, I am so sorry that happened to Kathy and Ed. Rain on the snow becomes incredibly heavy.
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On the lighter side: When not dealing with snow Judy Baenen has been working on a puzzle. She is so good at those and I admire her patience. I am using my spare time rereading one of my favorite western series, Robert Parker’s Cole and Hitch series. There are ten books which I read in order. Now I periodically redo one randomly as it becomes available. I just finished, “Revelation,” and enjoyed it very much.
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It is strange how Robert B Parker died in 2010 but a well known author in his own right, Robert Knott, has been authorized to write the Robert B Parker books. He does a great job.
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