Looking at the Sky on Friday - The Frozen Version

It's been too long since I've participated in my friend Tisha's Looking at the Sky on Friday meme but while in Amherst, Massachusetts last Saturday I felt compelled to pull over next to (okay, I actually pulled onto!) this dead cornfield to take a picture of the cold sky overhead.  As you can see, the sun was trying hard to break through but it wasn't having any luck and the day was cold, cold, cold!  No Nikon-blue sky there at all, just the frozen gray steel of a late January day in Massachusetts.  Brrr!

Be sure to head over to Tisha's and check out the links to see if anyone else has posted a warm Friday sky!

Looking at the Sky on Friday

Hmm, here it is the middle of April and I am writing this post from beneath two afghans and a fleece blanket whilst wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt and hoodie ... and I'm still cold!! What is wrong with this picture?? Rumor has it that it will get up to 70 degrees today but I don't know ... I hate to get my hopes up or wear a short-sleeved shirt as, so far, Spring has been a major disappointment here in Connecticut.

Case in point - my entry for this week's edition of Tisha's Looking at the Sky on Friday meme ...

This shot was recently taken on the Chelsea Parade which is now within walking distance of my humble abode and, believe it or not, it was taken at about 3:30 in the afternoon. A rather cold and dreary 3:30 in the afternoon I might add!

Ah well, here's hoping I can take the same shot sometime soon when the sun is shining, the sky is a beautiful blue, and the trees have leaves. While I'm waiting for that to happen, be sure to go check out the other entries in this week's meme - I bet you find some sunny skies there!

Remembering My Dad

Throughout our lives there are dates that become etched into our memories - dates of birthdays, dates of anniversaries, dates of high school or college graduations, dates of weddings, dates of deaths ...

Today marks a date that will forever remain etched in my memory as it was six years ago today that my father passed away.  Six years.  Yet I still remember it like it was last week and I think that I always will, it's not one of those dates that one is likely to forget.  I guess it's one of the reasons that I dislike February as much as I do.  I was never a big fan of the month to begin with and having the anniversary date of my father's death on the 23rd doesn't help its case.

Winter this year, much like 2003 was, has been horrible and I'm pretty sure that if my Dad were still alive, he would have had quite more than enough of it by now.  I believe I've mentioned in the past how much my Dad didn't like the cold of winter and how he, like so many of us, couldn't wait for it to be over and warmer weather come back around.  After he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (a result of his exposure to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam), he liked winters even less as he just couldn't seem to get warm. 

So many times my Dad used to talk about moving to Arizona after he retired from his second career in maintenance at Day Kimball Hospital so that he could enjoy his later years in relative warmth but he never got the chance to do that as cancer robbed him of the opportunity to enjoy his retirement years like he should have. After being diagnosed with a cancer that was treatable but not curable, I think my father lost all desire to move elsewhere as Connecticut really was his home in spite of the nasty winters that we can get here.

I've thought about my Dad a lot this winter as the weather has  reminded me so much of 2003 and I've thought about how much he would have hated the bitter cold and the snow that we've had this year.  Perhaps my dislike of the weather this year and the desire to see the cold weather end is just me being more and more like my father; though I'd like to think we had more in common than a dislike of cold temperatures!

At any rate, I'm not sure exactly where I'm going with this post other than to say "Dad, I miss you and even though you wouldn't have liked the nasty cold we've had this year, I think you'd have been glad to see that I finally moved off the side of those ridiculous hills I lived on!"  Somehow, though, I think he knows ... or at least I like to think he does.

Sunday Scenery

No Comments on Comments this Sunday as I was just too lazy to spend that much time writing the post on Saturday. Well, that and I was busy playing Rock Band with Jamie and that seemed like more fun! I'm sure you understand!

Instead I thought I'd post a couple more pictures from our recent visitor - Winter Storm Austin:

This is the view from my front door to across the street

Icicles on the roof of my house

You've heard of the Burning Bush, right?
This is it's cousin -the Frozen Bush!

Ah well, time to head over to work and hope that what little bit of a voice I've managed to recover is sufficient for talking on the radio. Well, either that or there won't be much that I have to say on the radio! We're supposed to get another storm today so I'm hoping it keeps people inside and healthy though chest pains and difficulty breathing don't seem to care what time of day it is or what the weather may be.

Here's hoping you have a healthy Sunday whether you're inside or out!

Not Quite the Cure For the Common Cold But Good Anyway!

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As I mentioned in the post previous to this one, Amanda and I have both been dealing with colds for going on over a week now and, truth be told, it's getting to be quite annoying having a constantly drippy nose and sore throat to boot. I am beginning to think I need to buy stock in Kleenex, cold remedies, and, while I'm at it, maybe medical supplies, too!

Getting up in age and having a memory like a sieve, I can never remember whether it's "feed a fever and starve a cold" or vice versa but I finally got up the ambition to do something with all of the apples that were thinking about going bad in the refrigerator as a nice apple crisp sounded like it might help soothe these colds we've been nurturing.

Looks pretty good, doesn't it? With the exception of having to peel, quarter, and slice the apples making an apple crisp is pretty darned easy and I must say that even with my stuffy nose, the smell that wafted through the house while it was baking was absolutely marvelous! I would have to say that even better than eating one, is the smell of an apple pie or apple crisp baking - nothing beats it and no candle can imitate it, though there are some that come close.

There's only one thing that was missing ... I forgot to get vanilla ice cream or some whipped cream while I was picking up milk, tea, and lottery tickets at the convenience store. D'oh!

But it was still good anyway! I'm thinking it might make for a tasty breakfast before I go to work tomorrow with a nice cup of coffee ... yummmyyy! To hecks with the oatmeal!

My throat hurths & my thinuthes are thtuft up ... I think I hab a cold!

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I did something today that I very rarely ever do and that was to call out sick from work. For the past couple of days I had been feeling somewhat lousy and attributed that to my fall allergies as I was experiencing itchy & watery eyes, post-nasal drip back of the throat crud, and frequent sneezing. Seemed like my standard operating procedure for autumn in New England but yesterday afternoon, shortly after I had gotten home from work, I started to feel like I had been run down by a very large truck complete with all the truck accessories any man could ever want!

By the time I went to bed last night I was feeling pretty much like Death eating a cracker ...

... and had my doubts whether work was going to be a viable option in the morning or not. After struggling to breath through first one nostril and then the other I was finally able to fall asleep around 12:30 though it seemed like I woke up every half hour or so gasping for air with a throat drier than the Sahara Desert!

We have what's called a point system where I work that is designed to keep people from calling out needlessly and whenever I entertain the idea of calling out sick (which, trust me, is not very often at all) I have to weigh the options of a) how much is this going to cost me in points and b) how much is this going to cost me in my paycheck? We only get three days a year to be used as sick time or PTO (personal time off) so you have to be very careful about how you choose to use them. If you call out with less than two hours ahead of your shift, you lose more points plus you can't request sick or PTO time so in my case I knew that if I was going to call out, it had to be before 5:00 a.m.

At 4:00 a.m. I woke up yet again and then proceeded to lie there for another 50 minutes debating the pros and cons of calling out before I finally picked up the phone at 4:50 and told the on-duty supervisor that basically I couldn't breath and wasn't coming in for my shift. I didn't request sick time as I've got an extra shift later on this week that should make up for missing today. Still, I feel guilty, guilty, guilty when I call out because it's not like there are that many other dispatchers that can take my place. There are only seven of us with a few part-timers thrown in here or there and sometimes it's not easy to get someone else in. Well, most times it's not easy to get someone in!

Anyone who has ever worked in a dispatch center or somewhere similar, though, knows that when one person is sick eventually the whole room is probably going to be sick. Matter of fact, I think I picked up my cold from a fellow dispatcher who was feeling like Death eating a cracker himself last week. We like to share things in dispatch and that especially includes germs and viruses! I figured that it would behoove everyone else I work with if I kept my germs home today rather than sniff, sneeze, and cough all over the console. No doubt they all appreciate my financial sacrifice to keep them healthy! Yeah, right ...

Anyhow, I stayed in bed until 10:30 having some of the strangest dreams ever before I finally wandered downstairs to pop some cold pills and curl up on the couch with my laptop. That was over two hours ago and I still feel weird, for lack of a better word. If I leave any strange comments on people's blogs today, please forgive me and chalk it up to my cold and the stuff I'm taking to try to combat it! Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go make some tea and see if I can soothe this sore throat of mine a bit! I sure hope everyone else in the Blogosphere is feeling better!

Wordless Wednesday #6

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See more WW participants here!