Sunday Drive: Snowfall

As performed by Doris Day, 1967; one of M.P.'s favorite songs.  And so appropriate for today in Texas.

It's sunny and 16 fucking degrees outside as I write, and feels like 30 in the house.  BRRR!  We have 3 to 5 inches of white stuff all over the gound, atop a solid glaze of ice.  That's why you don't see any traffic on the roads in this news video, though the freeways are open.  Temps won't get above freezing until Tuesday afternoon, for a little while.  Here's some live coverage from the Dallas-Fort Worth area:

M.P. and I are hunkered down and huddled up in our drafty old bungalow, using all available methods of heat generation and retention - gas furnace, electric fireplace, and multiple layers of clothing. I highly recommend fleece-lined flannel shirts and knitted caps.  And we're not leaving the house until the icy white is all gone. 

Screen capture from WFAA drone over Dallas.  Click to enlarge.
N.B. - This is a color picture.

To keep up our morale, last night M.P. made sausage-and-chicken gumbo, with potato salad and fried oysters on the side; it doesn't get any better than that! And I hunted up The Birdcage, which we haven't seen in years; still a comedic treat.  We watched it as we ate our dinner at the kitchen bar, followed by hot coffee and the last two slices of homemade chess pie, flavored with a drop of orange liqueur.

My heart aches for you Yankee boys, really it does.

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Snow Day at the Zoo

Filmed last week at the Cincinnati Zoo:

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Sunday Drive: Snow Days in Texas

Cold enough for you?

We had a big, beautiful snowfall all day Thursday here, about 4 inches, that covered everything and brought the DFW Metroplex to a screeching halt.  The temps got up to 50 on Saturday, but there's still some snow on the ground, though the streets are dry.  

Don't have any pics to show you guys, because M.P.'s teleophone is still on the blink.  So just for fun, I dug up this old video I posted on February 11, 2010 - 15 years ago. Wow, where does the time go?

 

Interesting to see and hear myself after so many years.  Like looking at someone else, almost. 

 

O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us

To see oursels as ithers see us!

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Winter Storm Coming to Texas

Winter weather warnings extend from Texas to New York.
Click to enlarge.

Here we go again.  The memory of last year's Deep Freeze is still quite vivid and painful.  Now we are expecting 3 inches of snow and temps down to 15, starting Wednesday night, and it won't get much above freezing again until Sunday.  The Governor and his energy team say don't worry, we have everything under control, and plenty of energy to around.

Which is just what they said before last year's storm which crippled the state and left millions, including M.P. and me, sitting in the dark and cold for days.  So I am indeed worried.

People are already swarming the grocery stores here - M.P. and I will make a run this afternoon to stock up on our necessities, and hope we can ride it out till next week without having to leave the house.  I know a lot of folks up in the Northeast are still recovering from that awful blizzard last weekend - I hope we don't get hit that hard here.  I'll let you know, and maybe will have some snow pics to share later in the week.  Wish us luck!

If you have nothing else whatsoever to do with your time - What's wrong with you, son? - here's a few boring news stories about preparations in Texas to look at.

Our local forecast for the next ten days - click to enlarge:

Update:  We survived.  It was mighty cold, but not as cold as last year's storm, and thank goodness the lights and heat stayed on the whole time.  So we bundled up for a few days, but by Sunday most of the snow was gone except in a few shady places.  For the record, here are a couple of rather undramatic pics taken Thursday morning:

Looking through the kitchen window at the height of the snow storm.

The driveway was carpeted with snow about 3 inches deep.

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Snow Day in Texas

At the moment, 30 degrees here, headed down to 23 tonight, and a high tomorrow of 35.  First time it's snowed this winter.  Last year by this point it had snowed 6 or 7 times.

The birds are having a frozen dinner.

Back yard, about 4:30 p.m.

Front yard

There was a big bunch of sparrows sitting in the wisteria bush by the curb, but they all flew off the moment before I snapped this pic.

The ex-roommate calls this sycamore a "planet tree."  They're all snow planets today.

And I took these pics before today's snow.  All the time I've been here, there's been a squirrel threesome living in the back yard.  Figures.  I call them Huey, Dewey, and Louie.

As well as a pair of cardinals - but curiously, they only come to eat at dawn and dusk, so it's hard to get a good picture of them.  Here's the mister, rather wary of the camera.

The 10 O'Clock Report

Your Head Trucker updates you on the Texas weather situation this evening. Part 1:



Part 2:




By the way, fellas - I ain't trying to be no big Hollywood director, so don't judge me too hard on these little amateur productions. Though there is a lot of work involved. Believe it or not, after all the filming is done, it takes me about 4 hours to download, upload, convert three different ways, edit, and synchronize a five-minute video.

Why do I do it? Oh well, guess I got nothing better to do. It's fun and creative in a way. And then too sometimes it's nice to just pretend there's somebody to ride with me and talk to in this far outpost here.

So just smile when you watch. At least it keeps me off the streets. Grin.

Snow Day in Texas

You East Coast boys, don't feel all alone; we're getting hit with the white stuff too. Your Head Trucker will be reporting live from the scene here in North Texas shortly.

We interrupt this blog for a live report from your Head Trucker:

My Big Shopping Trip

When Santa Claus forgets those special items on your list, what's an old shitkicker to do?

Go a little crazy at Wally World, a-course.

Watch part II and submit your guess to win a special prize from Russ . . .

PS - Reckon I do need a good dialogue writer, for a fact. Any you fellas want to apply for the job? Hell, I promise not to say "ain't that purty" again till, oh, at least next year.

Grin.

BTW, anybody needs a written translation from Texan to English, no problem, just sent a stamped, self-addressed envelope to your Head Trucker. For quicker response, include pictures.

Mo' Snow

But they say it won't be more than about an inch. And the temps tomorrow will get up to 50.  A good day to stay in and do some of the more tedious chores and housework on my list. 

 

Before It Melts Away

One more video of my Texas White Christmas before it's gone forever. I'm tickled right down to my boots over this, pardners. It's snowed before Christmas and after Christmas in times past - but wasn't sure I'd ever get to see snow on Christmas Day itself. Yeehaw!

I threw in a favorite tune of mine by George Strait to let you hear how it feels today in Texas: a happy, down-home day.

As far as the cinematography goes - okay, okay, so Spielberg has nothing to worry about, right . . . but hey, it's my Christmas and I'm just enjoying the hell out of it here - even without a turkey on the table and a big crowd around.

Are you enjoying yours half as much as I am? Hope so.

WTF: Did You Say Blizzard?

Holy shit:

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS EVENING.

A POWERFUL WINTER STORM WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTH TEXAS TODAY. TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO FALL DURING THE MORNING HOURS WITH AREAS OF RAIN TRANSITIONING TO AREAS OF SNOW FROM WEST TO EAST. SNOW MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES...WITH AVERAGE ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES OVER THE WARNING AREA. THE HIGHEST ACCUMULATIONS OF NEAR 5 INCHES WILL OCCUR GENERALLY NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM BRECKENRIDGE TO GAINESVILLE.

IN ADDITION TO THE SNOW...STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH WILL RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW ACROSS THE WARNING AREA. NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WILL RESULT IN VISIBILITIES BELOW A QUARTER OF A MILE IN SOME LOCATIONS. A BLIZZARD WARNING MAY BE NEEDED FOR PORTIONS OF THE WARNING AREA IF CONDITIONS DETERIORATE WORSE THAN ANTICIPATED THIS AFTERNOON.

THESE CONDITIONS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR AT TIMES IMPOSSIBLE. EXTREME CAUTION IS ADVISED IF YOU MUST TRAVEL.

I ain't going nowhere, boys. Always have wanted to see a White Christmas . . . but this don't sound quite like what I pictured. Daaayum.

Update. 3:30 p.m., 29 degrees, wind chill 15, wind 20+ mph:

Update. 4:30 p.m. Still snowing. The poor doves and a pair of cardinals crowd the feeder tray:

Snow!

Taken through the kitchen window.  It's way too cold (33) and wet to take my tootsies out in the back yard this morning.

Update:  I lied.  The bird/squirrel feeder was totally empty, I noticed, so I did go slop through the water, mud, and snow to feed my poor little critters, sans camera.  What else could a father do?