I don’t think so! Over promised and under delivered. Hardly a city closing event. Sure, highway driving was very bad and lots of highway closures etc., but in the city a total over reaction in closing so many things.
April 12, 2022, the day before the storm.
April 13th, 24 hours later.
And Good Friday, April 15th after the winter storm warnings have ended.
I’m truly tired of shovelling snow and I didn’t even have to do all the shovelling as our very kind neighbour used his snowblower on the really heavy wet snow day.
Back in mid-December Len and I were out at the lake and this is trip #2 for the winter season.
The drive was fine and we stopped in Kenora for dinner at the LOTWBrewCo and arrived at the cottage around 8 p.m. As usual the snow bank at the bottom of the driveway and the driveway itself was impassible so I used the snowshoes to clear a trail. A few trips and we’re loaded in. The cottage is only -5°C and didn’t seem all that cold. With the furnace, fireplace and kerosene heater cranked on it’s quite toasty in short order.
Some beverages, snacks and a couple of movies and it’s almost 1am so we call it a day.
Next morning after a few coffees and a light breakfast it’s time to head down to the lake to get some water.
There is still lots of ice but also lots of surface water this year. I shovel off a light cover of snow to find out that I can also break off about 1” of ice with the shovel and hit a water pocket! Normally, this requires a pick axe to dig out a trough to dip the bucket in. There seems to be alternating layers of ice and water for about the first foot and then it’s solid ice for over 2 feet. We scoop out two buckets and back up to the cottage.
Later in the day we head out across the lake past the island and across the ice road to an area where there has been some sort of snow clearing activity.
Out past the island, where we see people fishing during the summer, there has been another ice road created that leads form a cottage in the north end of the bay to this fishing spot. There is evidence of several ice fishing holes which are now frozen over. With the ice roads “officially” closed I suspect any ice fishing shacks have been removed.
Next morning I’m up at 6am with a coffee watching the moon rise being washed away by the sun rise at 7:05am
Moon on the far right and Saturn straight ahead 6:00am
Sunrise in the East just coming over the trees 7:05am
Our water hole has frozen over with about 2″ of ice due to the -21°C over night.
After coffees and a leisurely breakfast we clean up, pack up and head for home. A good winter weekend.
With COVID over the last 2+years I imagine most of us have been watching more video that ever before and we’re no exception. We’ve added some new (to us) streaming services like PBS and become quite a fan of Masterpiece Theatre productions. Additionally, we’re watching lots of cooking show. Recently, we came across Cook’s Country which showcases great recipes, along with techniques, food history and kitchen product reviews.
I skipped over the sour dough craze, but I did think about it and then one night we’re watching a show and one of the recipes is a Prosciutto Bread with Provolone which catches my attention. The next day I’m investigating their web site and decide to sign up and get more involved in cooking and baking with some new inspirations. So, a little shopping and I’m making my first bread product project.
Dough in the Mixer
Our Kitchen Aid mixer makes a comeback after a fair bit of idling in the basement storage area and a 1st use of the dough hook. Works great!
All mixed up & rising
After 90 minutes of allowing the dough to rest and rise it’s shaped into two 12″ sub shaped loaves and left to rest and rise for another 45 minutes. Then into the oven for 25 minutes and voilà!
The driving force behind news is to capture your attention and one of the primary ways that media does that is through inciting fear. If the news can make you anxious and afraid, then you’re more likely to check in often to read articles or listen to shows.
Humble people worry less than the arrogant. Why is that? Because they aren’t so conceited as to think they have any idea (or control over) what may or may not happen.
The poet Rilke put it well: “Life is not even close to being as logically consistent as our worries; it has many more unexpected ideas and many more facts than we do.” Worry is pointless not only because it rarely makes things better, but also because you’re rarely ever worried about the right thing!
Seneca’s line was that “nothing happens to the wise man contrary to his expectation.” By that the arrogant person might take it to mean that the wise man is so smart that they are aware of all the possibilities. The humble soul knows that is probably not what Seneca meant. They know it’s more plausible that the wise are aware of Murphy’s Law and the absurd randomness of the universe. That is, within the range of expectations of the wise man is the idea that just about anything can happen.
Remember that today when you get anxious. The thing you’re hoping won’t happen, or hoping will happen; well… it’s just as likely that the world has entirely different plans for you. These plans are often things we couldn’t have even comprehended, let alone anticipated or prevented.
So let go a little bit. Don’t worry. It’s unbecoming. It’s arrogant. Be humble instead.
This idea really hit me a few days ago from a different devotion and here it is again. The fact that I’m already living in eternity. Not when I physically die but from the moment I accepted Jesus.
““I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.”
So we’re at “Delta” now (Spring 2021) are you ready for “Epsilon”?
With the WHO’s newest naming convention for COVID Variants of Interest (VOI) and Varients of Concern (VOC) and something you don’t hear too much about, Variant of High Consequence (VOHC) we’re going to hear a lot more Greek letter names in the media.
While VOCs are getting most of the attention and the alpha, beta, gamma and delta names VOIs are also using up some of the Greek letters like ets, iota, kappa and lambda (hey, what happened to theta?). Only 26 names and we’re burning through them pretty fast.
As a result, we’re likely to become more familiar with the Greek alphabet, so here you go.
Name
Character
Pronunciation
alpha
α
AL-phuh
beta
β
BAY-tuh
gamma
γ
GAMM-muh
delta
δ
DELL-tuh
epsilon
ε
EPP-sih-lonn
zeta
ζ
ZAY-tuh
eta
η
AY-tuh
theta
θ
THAY-tuh
iota
ι
ee-OH-tuh
kappa
κ
CAPP-uh r
lambda
λ
LAMM-duh (What animal is that? It’s a “LAMB — duh”!!)
This was a bit of a random pic but I like the way it represents the sun, mountains, oceans/lakes, and trees/forests all things I like and enjoy, the outdoor life.
Next week we will revive the prime candidate for a real tattoo that has a lot of significance to Shirley and I.
