Anyway ...
Talking about unusual weather is a lot like taking a stroll on some thin ice. At times it seems that whenever you mention some unusal conditions, the weather gods take it as a signal to do something completely different.
We had a lot of cold weather in December, but January has been very mild here and in most of the North Central U.S. We have had no major storms since mid November--aside from one storm on New Year's Eve. It got below zero (Fahrenheit) last week, but we also got to 40F.
As a consequence, our piles of snow are looking forlorn and foresaken.
One thing we both like to do in winter is look at the animal tracks around the yard. We live right in town, and the main highway passes right by our front door, but many morningd we see little prints in the snow. This morning, it was a rabbit's tracks, passing along in front of the house, toward the neighbors. Should have grabbed the camera, but I had to get to work.
Other times it's dogs and cats--there were cat prints right on the back porch a day or two ago. My wife likes to feed the birds with old bits of bread and other baked goods--she dumps them near the alley--so her bird friends add their footprints to the snow. Every once in a while, we get a larger visitor--like those deer prints in the photo from last month. (Not sure if I posted it at efx2. That was then.)
Thankfully, this past weekend was a lot quieter than the one before (as if it could possibly have been busier). All of us went down to visit my mom on Saturday, and we also saw that "Chronicles of Narnia" movie, which we enjoyed very much.
There's been talk about "Christian" themes in the story, but if they were, in fact, there, they were pretty subtle. Aslan, the lion, gives his life to save one of the children and then is reborn--but I think they said it was because of a lie told by the White Witch. There are pagan-like themes in there, too, and mytholigical creatures portrayed in a positive way. I suppose some people just live to find grist for their take on the "culture wars."
I don't go to movies to look at things with a particular mindset. I go there to be entertained and to escape everyday cares, and Narnia did that very well. There are seven books in C.S. Lewis' series, and I hope they will make others.
Whew! Didn't mean to get that deeply into it. Anyway, we saw it, and we all enjoyed it.
As for the NFL playoffs, I missed all of the first Saturday game (at the Narnia movie and visiting) and all but the last quarter of the second Saturday game. Sunday, I only wanted to stay home and relax and got to see both playoff games. After lunch on Sunday, my wife sat next to me on the couch, as she usually does, rested her head on my shoulder and soon was fast asleep.
So I had to sit there as quiet as a litle mousie during one of the wildest NFL playoff games (Steelers-Colts) I have ever seen, with major twists of fate throughout the second half amd especially at the end. She eventually woke up during the second quarter of the Bears-Panthers game. I was disappointed in the Bears' defense--as a long-time Packers fan, I wanted the Bears to win. They didn't.
Missed all of Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday, too, for the same reason. I saw a little of the second game, after the Patriots-Broncos game finished up, but I was tired after a long day. So my wife, so we went upstairs to bed. But it just so happened that she wasn't that tired yet, so you can guess what happened next. We both slept soundly.
One more thing. On my journeys Saturday, I also invested in a new VCR-DVD combo unit. Big surprise, right?
Unbelievably, I have three straight nights at home this week. The Johnny Cash biopic "Walk the Line" is at our local theater, and there's a pertty good chance we'll see it tonight. We're both Johnny Cash fans, and the reviews say Joaquin Phoenix did a really good job portraying him.
So that's the story of our early January weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment