Friday I went to work in my light winter jacket, felt beret and gloves. I slept with an extra light-weight down throw on my bed Friday night.
Yesterday it was mostly cloudy but the temperature got into the 50's and I worked outdoors for about 3 hours, starting the arduous task of spring clean-up! My yard is a disaster area, to put it bluntly. Now I'm seriously thinking about hiring someone to come in and do the clean-up because it will take me until July if I try to do it myself! I filled up one of my big yard waste containers and I've barely dented the yard. Most of my work yesterday was spent sweeping the deck clean yet again of nut shells and starting the arduous task of raking up a winter's worth of nut shell accumulation from feeding my critters. I also tackled a couple of the flower beds but I won't kid you - they need more work! I worked outdoors with a sweatshirt with long-sleeved top underneath. I didn't break a sweat. Last night I once again slept with the down throw on my bed.
This morning my windows were fogged over! I knew what that meant. Sometime during the night a warm front came through and it was now warmer and more humid outside than inside the house (which I keep at 64 degrees during the winter - still have the heat on by the way because it's been dropping into the 40's and sometimes the 30's at night despite it being "spring." Often "spring" doesn't come to Wisconsin until June.) I opened up the patio door and wooooosh, in rushed a flow of warm, wet air. It was so wet outside, everything had a film of moisture on it. It look like it had rained out - except it hadn't! It was WARM out there, and no breeze to speak of. Wow - what a change!
It was mostly cloudy when I got up, but every now and then the sun would peak out and when it did, the temperature zoomed upward substantially. I made the mistake of wearing a sweatshirt and jeans with my tennies and socks to my walk to the supermarket at 9 a.m. Forty minutes later I'm huffing and puffing up the hill back home lugging two heavy bags of groceries with sweat dripping off my eyebrows and running down between my breast. Yech!
Severe weather is being predicted, and frankly, given the level of humidity in the air and the instability in the air mass (there is a 20 degree temperature differential between what it's like at the airport, which is on Lake Michigan, and my house, about 8 miles due west!) I'm preparing for tornado warnings - already got the basement set up and - TA DA - I have flashlights with working batteries!!!
But right now I'm airing out the house and it feels great, even if it is damp. It's wonderful to be sitting here in a tee shirt and shorts typing away with the patio screen door open and windows (with freshly cleaned screens) wide open in the rest of the house, even if it's only for one day. Back to "normal" tomorrow, which means, if we're lucky, temperatures in the 50's. For now, if I had some shampoo at hand I could wash my hair without approaching the shower, my hair got that wet with sweat on the walk back from the supermarket. Wow! Right now it's just brushed up into a bun with a giant clippy to get it out of my way as I work. There is now a breeze coming through the patio door screen, feels good!
Meanwhile, the birds are going absolutely bonkers outside! Mating season is in full force and with the warm weather and the patio door open, I'm hearing mating calls and songs I've never had much opportunity to hear before. It's awe-inspiring, actually, to see all this male showcasing going on as they compete to attract mates. Guess the dudes in India and China will learn about this soon enough for themselves, given their countries' cock-eyed male/female ratios due to bias against girl children and rampant aborting of female fetuses and female infanticide where abortions aren't available. Let's see, in China I believe the ratio is something like 100 females for every 121 males. Hmmmmm.... And that's just numbers-crunching. That doesn't even begin to tell the full story of how many of those female would be considered "desirable" -- although I suspect the definition of "desirable" will be greatly broadened over the ensuing years... Some females (as well as males) just won't be marriageable (or shouldn't be considered marriageable) because of disabilities, for instance. Well, it will be interesting to see what happens in both India and China over the next 30 years, during which I hope to be very much alive and observing.
 |
| Semi-cleaned up area, back yard looking south. |
 |
| Looking north - not yet touched with rake. Sigh. |
It was mostly cloudy when I got up, but every now and then the sun would peak out and when it did, the temperature zoomed upward substantially. I made the mistake of wearing a sweatshirt and jeans with my tennies and socks to my walk to the supermarket at 9 a.m. Forty minutes later I'm huffing and puffing up the hill back home lugging two heavy bags of groceries with sweat dripping off my eyebrows and running down between my breast. Yech!
 |
| Looking southwest off the deck - most of the yard not yet touched. I've got to clip that peony - new growth is popping up and last year's stems are still there, eek! Yesterday I did re-level the concrete birdbath seen in the distance. It had been tilted all winter and was driving me nuts! |
But right now I'm airing out the house and it feels great, even if it is damp. It's wonderful to be sitting here in a tee shirt and shorts typing away with the patio screen door open and windows (with freshly cleaned screens) wide open in the rest of the house, even if it's only for one day. Back to "normal" tomorrow, which means, if we're lucky, temperatures in the 50's. For now, if I had some shampoo at hand I could wash my hair without approaching the shower, my hair got that wet with sweat on the walk back from the supermarket. Wow! Right now it's just brushed up into a bun with a giant clippy to get it out of my way as I work. There is now a breeze coming through the patio door screen, feels good!
Meanwhile, the birds are going absolutely bonkers outside! Mating season is in full force and with the warm weather and the patio door open, I'm hearing mating calls and songs I've never had much opportunity to hear before. It's awe-inspiring, actually, to see all this male showcasing going on as they compete to attract mates. Guess the dudes in India and China will learn about this soon enough for themselves, given their countries' cock-eyed male/female ratios due to bias against girl children and rampant aborting of female fetuses and female infanticide where abortions aren't available. Let's see, in China I believe the ratio is something like 100 females for every 121 males. Hmmmmm.... And that's just numbers-crunching. That doesn't even begin to tell the full story of how many of those female would be considered "desirable" -- although I suspect the definition of "desirable" will be greatly broadened over the ensuing years... Some females (as well as males) just won't be marriageable (or shouldn't be considered marriageable) because of disabilities, for instance. Well, it will be interesting to see what happens in both India and China over the next 30 years, during which I hope to be very much alive and observing.
 |
| Lots to do yet, lots to do. Looking west by northwest from the deck. It's hard to believe that in just a few more weeks the grass will be green and the trees will be leafing out! The daylilies are popping up, as are the Swedish daisies, the catnip, and the fox glove. |
No comments:
Post a Comment