No Groundhog for Us

Here in Brevard we do it differently.  Tomorrow, while eyes across the nation turn to view their resident groundhogs, Transylvania County citizens will turn their eyes to Pisgah Pete, our county mascot.  Pisgah Pete is one of our famous* white squirrels.

Since squirrels are fast little devils animals, Pete will not be released from the cage that transports him from his home to the town square.  Thus, he will have no opportunity to see his shadow.  But not to worry.  The town officials have figured out a way for Pete to forecast the weather.  Two signs will be placed, one on the left side and one on the right side of his cage.  One sign will read "yes" and the other sign will read "no."  A designated official will then ask Pete, "Will there be six more weeks of winter?"  Eventually Pete will go toward one side of the cage or the other and that movement will constitute the answer.

Because Pete is so reliable, citizens have been asked to submit "yes or no" questions and a select few will be asked of Pete.  Who knows?  Pete might even tell us who will be the next President.  But I'm going to vote anyway.

Pisgah Pete at last year's gathering

(photo from the local newspaper)

There is no way Pete could see his shadow today.  We still have lingering snow on the ground and much warmer temperatures.  That combination makes for a very foggy day.  And we're expecting rain tomorrow so I don't think he will see a shadow even if that were his preferred prognostication method.

*Famous white squirrels
Florida, 1949.  A carnival truck carrying animals overturns in the town of Madison.  A nearby resident rubs his eyes in disbelief when he glimpses two white squirrels in his pecan grove.  He is impressed by them and thinks they must be albino so he captures them.  He is surprised to find that their eyes are black.  They are not albino at all.  The man gives the squirrels away to a friend.

Here comes the Brevard connection.  The friend had relatives in Brevard and decided the cute little white squirrels would make a nice gift for his niece.  So he brought the squirrels to NC and gave them to his niece.  The niece named the squirrels "SnowBall" and "Frisky."  She loved the squirrels and was disappointed they did not mate.  She kept them for a couple of years and then married and moved away from home.  She did not take the squirrels with her.

Eventually one of the squirrels escaped from the enclosure and ran into the woods.  Fearing the loneliness of the remaining squirrel, her uncle gave the squirrel its freedom.  Released from captivity Frisky and Snowball met up with the native gray squirrels and, as squirrels are wont to do, created many little baby squirrels.  A surprising number of the newly birthed white squirrels began appearing all over the town.  The white squirrels so endeared themselves to the citizens of Brevard that the City Council passed a protection ordinance in 1986.  The ordinance established the city limits of Brevard as a white squirrel sanctuary and made it illegal hunt, kill, trap or otherwise capture any white squirrel within the city.

The squirrels have prospered and at last count, (yes there is an annual count of white squirrels) the white squirrels made up 45% of the squirrel population within the city.  The squirrels have expanded their territory and we occasionally find them here, more than 10 miles up the mountain from Brevard.  In fact, we have seen them in our woods.  They tend not to stay around our house, but some adoring neighbors actually feed squirrels so we will likely see more of them.  We don't even need any ordinance to protect them.  Our community protects all wildlife of any kind.

I snapped this shot of a white squirrel right in our own back yard.

Don't be deceived by its looks.  It's still a tree rat just like its gray kin.

So go ahead and watch your own groundhog or videos of famous Punxsutawney Phil.  Around here folks will be watching Pisgah Pete, the Brevard white squirrel make his prediction.  Any of them will take you away from the Iowa caucus results for a brief instant.

Truth is, spring will come no matter what any animal predicts.  And that makes me happy.

We Love Lucy

How is it possible that the first month of 2016 is ending already?  It seems such a short while since the holidays.

Lucy doesn't seem to notice the passing time.  For her the days are measured by her routine activities.  Go outside first thing, eat breakfast, play for a while, then take a trip to the park to romp and play.  The rest of the day is spent snoozing with short periods of active play and the necessary trips outside.

Lucy has several places she chooses to snooze.  She snoozes more often than not in one of the several beds in the house.  There are two in the great room, there is one in my husband's study, and there are two in the den.  We still have Ellie's bed lying next to Lucy's.  Her crate is still set up in the doggy room and her food/water dishes remain in place.  While Lucy never goes inside Ellie's crate, she does drink from the water dish and sleep in the various beds.

Here she is in her own bed.  Like most dogs, she has a variety of sleeping postures.

Her favorite blue tug lies nearby.

 Other times she sleeps in Ellie's bed.

(You'll have to ask my husband why we bothered to have the beds personalized.)

 In spite of several days of temperatures well above freezing and a bit of rain, we still have a fair amount of icy snow on the ground.  However, all the roads are clear except for the non-paved ones and life is pretty much back to normal.  My mother used to say that when the snow continues to lie around, it's because there will be another one soon.  I'm hoping that is not true; that it's because the snow was so deep.

 Still enough snow to do some tracking if you've a mind to.

I will not wax political today except to leave you with this quote.  It's from Minnesota politician Walter H. Judd who worried about voter turnout in the early twentieth century:

"People often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made by a majority of the people.  Of course, that is not true.  Decisions are made by a majority of those who make themselves heard and who vote - a very different thing."

 HAVE A MOST WONDERFUL WEEKEND!

 

Idea

I turned on the television this morning to get some details on the Oregon shootout.  Should have known better.  Last night DJT said he won't participate in the next GOP debate.  So once again the man has totally dominated the media.  (I use his initials because I refuse to write his name.)

[NOTE:  If you are supporting this candidate, best you not read further.]

Veteran newsman Bob Shieffer has temporarily returned from retirement to cover the election this year.  He told a story that so well describes the GOP lead candidate.  He relates what he calls "the dead cat" maneuver.  That in a meeting, no matter what is being discussed and no matter how important it is, if someone throws a dead cat onto the table, that is where the conversation will focus. And so we have seen this process dozens of times during this Presidential campaign process, especially from DJT.  When the news dares to focus on anyone else, he throws a figurative dead cat onto the table to once again turn attention to him.  Such was his most recent decision not to participate in the next debate.  We've seen it so often.  And we will see it so many times again.  And yet the "media" cannot ignore the dead cat, no matter what else needs to be said.

So I have an idea.  How about we designate or form a television network specifically for this candidate?  That network could take over the 24/7 trash information about his campaign and his latest disgusting outrageous politically incorrect remarks.  That way, the other networks could try to regain some footing and report what is going on in our world.  Anyone who really wishes to hear this man can turn to the channel and watch.  The rest of us can be free from his rhetoric and posturing.

In fact, if he is really so rich, why not have him start the network?  If he believes we honestly care about one word he says, then he would have our undivided attention.

On a side note:  A GOP super PAC is spending massive amounts of money for ads in Iowa.  They supposedly "attack" Bernie Sanders as being "too liberal for Iowa"  because he wants health care for all, access to better education, closing tax loopholes enjoyed by Wall Street.  They have spent half a million dollars so far blasting the airwaves in Iowa as the countdown to caucus is in full swing.  (And so we give one more raspberry to SCOTUS for their Citizens United decision.)  Why, you might ask, is a GOP super PAC trying to convince Iowans of this candidate's liberal leaning?  Doesn't everyone already know that his stance is quite liberal?  Could it be that the GOP super PAC would prefer Sanders as the Democrat Candidate?  More importantly, should a super PAC from one party be allowed to air any kind of ads in the other party's primary?

I urge Iowans and all Americans to support the candidate of your choosing.  Just make certain you are choosing wisely.  Look beyond the promises and rhetoric.  Look at past behavior and actions.  Look for some substantive methods of financing the changes all of us want.  Yes, we want all of those things.  We even want world peace.  But these things are not easy and we need to elect the person most likely to be able to bring us toward meaningful change.  Not the person best able to stir up a crowd.

A line from an old poem keeps ringing in my mind.
"Oh Lord, help us and save us."

And Now the Calm

We still have plenty of snow lying around.  But we're finally enjoying some above-freezing temperatures so we can expect a big meltdown.  Our roads will remain icy for days yet so we don't plan to leave the community for a while.

The birds don't seem to have minded the snow and they surely have appreciated the water we have available.  We have a heated water dish for the sub-freezing weather and the birds really flock to it.  We also have several brush piles deeper in the woods to provide shelter for the birds.  (And some smaller animals, I am sure.)  And some birds actually use the bird boxes for temporary shelter in the winter.

Tufted Titmouse before the snow blew furiously.

The first blast of snow left little on the trees despite the depth on the ground.  It started with sleet and the snow came down in fine flakes rather than big fluffy ones.  So the snow initially fell off the tree limbs.  I'm sure the winds also played a factor.

The snow we got on Saturday night after a very brief respite, was the fluffy kind we are more accustomed to.

 You have to love the bright red of the cardinals in the snow

The little wren appreciated the snow cleared from the deck railing.

We are expecting temperatures in the 40s today and tomorrow and that should really help with clearing the roads.  We are hoping it won't freeze again overnight because we are expecting rain later tomorrow.  So fingers crossed that the warmer temperatures hold.

Schools are still having "Virtual School" days and those will continue for some even after the bricks-and-mortar school days return.  Some rural roads will not be safe for school buses long after school resumes.  The children living there will continue their work on laptops, tablets, or "blizzard bags."

And we are beginning to finish leftovers, pork roast and turkey.  When that's gone we have plenty of food in the freezer and pantry.  So we are weathering the storm quite well.  And are grateful for that.

Thoughts go out to those who are still struggling in the massive weather system.

We Love Lucy

They said it was going to be a big one.  And it is.  Freezing rain began to fall as we went to bed last night and this morning we woke to find six inches of snow.  And the storm continues dumping more snow.  No need to even think of going anywhere you cannot walk.  Predictions are for ten more inches.  And temperatures well below freezing.  But we are prepared for it so I'm trying my best to relax and enjoy the fire.

The best thing I can say about this winter storm is that it displaced politics from the "news."

Lucy enjoys the snow but only for brief periods of time.

Unlike us, she does not remember Wisconsin winters.

 She takes off running like a puppy.

We worry about her doing Golden zoomies at her age.

But she did enjoy her romp.

It will be several days before we will be able to leave the community.  Our roads will be plowed, but the ice and snow will linger on the steep curves, making for treacherous driving.

Our county schools have prepared as well.  All middle school and high school students have laptops or tablets and will have work assigned.  The elementary school children have "blizzard bags" they previously took home.  So all students will have work to do at home and these will count as "virtual" school days and not "snow" days.  It seems to be a win-win all around.  The students do not have to make up the day and it gives them something meaningful to work on.  Students who have Internet access will send their completed work to their teachers.  Those without Internet connection and the elementary school students will bring the completed assignments on the first day back to school.

We are hoping that the predictions are wrong and that the snow will end sooner with less accumulation.  We have enough, thank you very much.

Our quote is a familiar one by Percy Bysshe Shelley:

Drive my dead thoughts over the universe
     Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth!
     And, by the incantation of this verse,
Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth
     Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!
     Be through my lips to unawakened earth
The trumpet of a prophecy! O, wind,
     If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?


I know it is early to be dreaming of Spring.  But it is late January and the next month is short February and then it's March and Spring.  Right?

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERONE

STAY SAFE AND WARM

AND HELP YOUR NEIGHBOR

 

Hope It Misses Us

We always knew we wanted to retire in the NC mountains.  Every year we came down to look at land and every year we found the prices increasing.  So we bought some land in Haywood County several years before we planned to retire.  As we visited the area more often, it dawned on us that our land was above 4500 feet in elevation.  And in the NC mountains, elevation at that level mean more frequent and heavier snows.  Having spent 20 years in WI, we were ready to leave the snow behind.  So we sold the land in Haywood County and built in Transylvania County at an elevation of 3200 feet.  A place that would get some snow, but not often and not heavy.

Earlier this week we had the kind of snow that is typical for us.  We awoke to see a dusting of snow with a bit more to come.

The sun was not up yet.

 Same area by one o'clock that afternoon

 Now that's my kind of snow.  But several times a year, more in some years than others, we get deeper snows.  The deepest snowfall in the town of Brevard was 17 inches.  Since our community is a thousand feet higher in elevation than Brevard, the deepest snow was likely much deeper.  But in the scheme of things (think states in the Rocky Mountains or the Mid-west) that's not a lot of snow.

One year we had a surprise snowstorm in mid-March.  I had a friend visiting from WI.  Her flight home was delayed two days by snow here in NC, not in WI.  No sitting on the deck as we had planned.  But we did enjoy watching the birds in the snow.

The little goldfinch sat atop several inches of snow on the rail.

We are under a winter storm advisory with predictions for snow this afternoon and for the next few days.  If the predicted pattern continues we will be under a winter storm warning later this evening.  In WI, a prediction of five inches of snow means very little.  Happens all the time and in fact, is considered a small snowstorm.  But here in Brevard, five inches of snow will bring things to a halt.  And especially in our community with our streets winding uphill or downhill and heavily shaded, a five-inch snowstorm means we won't leave the community for a while.

Our pantry and freezer are well stocked.  We have plenty of propane for the generator and fireplaces.  We have good books to read and wine to drink.  Maybe a bit more snow might not be so bad after all.  But it would be nice to see the temperatures rise a bit.

 Lucy is oblivious to the weather as long as she has her pillows.

Yes, she has a new one.

Hope your Wednesday is a good one, whatever your weather.

Still Not There Yet

Judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin.  Such was the dream of Martin Luther King, Jr.  That someday his little children would not be judged by the color of their skin.   And we are indeed moving toward achieving that dream.  But we are not there yet.

And so we all must persevere.  For the sake of our country.  Our nation is in danger today because of increasingly harsh rhetoric that seems to equate "political correctness" with equality for all.  And to suggest disdain for both.  We cannot let our apathy and inaction allow the dreams of so many before us to fade away.  Hold on to that dream.

In the words of Martin Luther King himself:  "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter."