The farm cats like it when we park a warm car in the garage in winter.
We set out some of last season’s apples for the birds. Yesterday they were gone in several hours. House finches, starlings, and red-wing blackbirds like them best.
One of the many things I like about this platform is the mention of apps and services that folks use. I like reading about them even though I don’t end up using most. H/T to @timapple for Nostr.
Ms. Bean will often come find me when I am working in my study upstairs. Sometimes my wife will send her up to get me for some chore, but often she just comes up to see me. She demands an ear rub and then lies on the floor until I am finished.
I’m updating my web design knowledge, which dates back to the days when the <blink> tag was considered acceptable. I just watched the Hugo series by Mike Dane on YouTube. Thanks @custom. YouTube videos are not my preferred learning environment but this series was quite good.
Is America Broken?
I just finished listening to The Gray Area podcast titled “Is America Broken? “. Sean Illing speaks with Alana Newhouse about an essay she published in Tablet magazine this past November. The discussion presents the idea that American society is breaking into two camps - those who believe America’s institutions are irreparably broken and need to be replaced with something new (Brokenists) and the Reformists. The latter believe that the institutions are still solid, and only need to be improved. The Brokenist / Reformist dichotomy doesn’t align with this country’s usual binary divisions. I found the conversation fascinating. It will color how I evaluate current events from now on.
Finished reading: Liberation Day by George Saunders 📚 This is a book of ten short stories. I enjoyed all of them, although several had very unusual premises.
Finished reading: Year of Wonder: Classical Music to Enjoy Day by Day by Clemency Burton-Hill 📚
My wife and I used this book to guide our listening each day after dinner. Be aware you need an account with Apple Music or Spotify to access the playlists.
Happy New Year everyone! 🎉
I really dislike year end reviews of the news (or most anything else, actually). It seems to dampen the hopefulness of the holiday season by reminding me what happened the last time I tried to be optimistic about the year ahead.
The temperature this morning is -15°F. It reminds me of the year we lived in Duluth, MN.
Finished reading: The Bookstore Sisters 📚
Between the storms.
A huge willow after the ice fog lifted. If you look at the center of the tree you can see a major branch that split.
Roof Socks
We have some heavy snow predicted for the next few days, so I decided it was time to refresh the “roof socks”. There are a couple of places on the roof where snow and ice accumulate forming ice dams. I’ve found that tube socks filled with eco-friendly ice melt help prevent the problem.
Finished reading (actually, finished listening to): The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn
Three cheers for utility workers
We had several days of thick ice fog this past week. The power was out for 11 hours on one of the foggy days. We were fine. We have an emergency generator for just this reason. The outage affected twenty households, but in our sparsely populated corner of the world that meant many square miles needed to be searched to find the break. This is on a day when the visibility was less than 100 feet, and temperatures were in the low twenties. The ice had caused a pole to snap. The utility crews brought in and erected a new pole and by 10 pm power was restored. We are grateful to have such skilled and dedicated people working at our utility, Inland Power.
Elderberry branches after a couple of days of ice fog.
This is the extent of my holiday decorating this year. I spent more time tracking down dead light bulbs than hanging the lights. Still, I enjoy seeing them when I step out to do the evening chores.
On a snowy day like today, it’s nice to be able to sink into the warmth and safety of a comfortable chair by the fire.