View Full Version : Winter begins 12/21/22 "Stille Nacht/Silent Night"
dado potato
12-20-22, 7:13pm
At last, the days grow longer (in the Northern Hemisphere)!
My sprouts have been getting barely enough sunlight these days ... radish sprouts are OK, but fenugreek sprouts are pale.
With about 20 inches of snow accumulation, and tree limbs heavily laden, many power lines have been taken down. Here's Gratitude and virtual bowls of hot pea soup offered up to the utility crews who work to restore electric power.
Incidentally, our weather forecast is for more snow, falling until Christmas Eve. That is when a lot of folks will be singing "Stille Nacht" in German, or "Silent Night" in English, per the translation by John Freeman Young (1863).
This is a universal holiday. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGA6djLsDgs
I got hit with 18" last night, which is more than I've seen here in ~25 years. We are not set up to handle that sort of thing in these parts. Staying home for a week.
frugal-one
12-20-22, 7:48pm
Going to be cold in the south, but thankfully, no snow at least!
catherine
12-20-22, 8:12pm
They're predicting wet (rain) and wind up here. No white Christmas. No Vermont Christmas postcard scenes--at least in my neck of the woods.
Thanks for the beautiful video.
The forecast snow totals have come down for northern IL, but still big wind and bitterly cold. I’ll be driving home Sat and Sun from FL so I’ll be hitting the really colder air on Sun. I’ll stay overnight in Nashville Sat.
This is a universal holiday. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGA6djLsDgs[/QUOTE]
Lovely!
The view from my window:
5011
We got maybe 4-6". Enough to keep me away from the mailbox.
Enjoying some extra creamy hot cocoa with butter.
Forecasts here are for the coldest spell in 30 years with temperatures well below zero, plus wind and a little snow. It fortunately should not last very long, but may have it's own sort of seasonal attractiveness..
happystuff
12-21-22, 10:54am
Happy Solstice, everyone. Stay safe and warm!!
Safe travels, Tradd.
iris lilies
12-21-22, 11:18am
I got hit with 18" last night, which is more than I've seen here in ~25 years. We are not set up to handle that sort of thing in these parts. Staying home for a week.
Wow yeah, that’s a lot of snow for you guys. I hope it starts melting soon. We’re getting that storm later today.
We are dreading the storm tonight - funny it should come on the solstice. High tomorrow is something like minus 2. Cabin fever is really setting in but at least the days will begin to get longer. Our utility bill for last cycle was crazy high and that's leaving the thermostat at 59 night and 63 during the day. Next cycle with all this cold will be shocking.
It's 10F outside now, with 20-30 knot winds blowing. Considering opening a local branch of "Minnesotans for Global Warming".
I'm so glad we're not traveling this year for christmas. Most years we go to St Louis and spend Christmas with my in-laws but we decided not to this year since we were just there in august for my MIL's 90's birthday. It's supposed to get brutally cold there and flights all over the country will be screwed up by this mega weather thing. No thanks. Part of my excitement when we moved to CA 14 years ago was that it doesn't snow here. I will be perfectly happy if I never see snow again in my lifetime.
iris lilies
12-22-22, 12:07am
Traveling in the storms and winter time is absolutely miserable. JP is a good thing you’re not coming here.
I don’t mind hunkering down in my house with a snow shovel, ice melt, and full cupboards, but having to go out in it is yuck
frugal-one
12-22-22, 11:07am
Word here …. near Mexico… is that temps tonight will be near freezing with wind chills in the teens. EVERONE is out covering plants. Just got an email from home and snow shoveler is doing an excellent job. Said he even knocked snow off the awning. That is great to hear!
Yesterday by noon our sole tow truck operator here had 66 backed-up calls for people needing removed from roadside ditches and such. Quite a few roads were blocked by stuck vehicles. This morning his backlog is larger.
People don't seem to realize that simply buying a Subaru doesn't mean they can drive in any conditions they want.
iris lilies
12-22-22, 3:29pm
Yesterday by noon our sole tow truck operator here had 66 backed-up calls for people needing removed from roadside ditches and such. Quite a few roads were blocked by stuck vehicles. This morning his backlog is larger.
People don't seem to realize that simply buying a Subaru doesn't mean they can drive in any conditions they want.
There are very few Subarus here in gods country. We are more about trucks, bigger trucks, and really big trucks. But no Humvees, no one here can afford those.
There are very few Subarus here in gods country. We are more about trucks, bigger trucks, and really big trucks. But no Humvees, no one here can afford those.
City folks who move here buy Subarus. The default "all season" tires Subarus come with are horrid IMO, when a brand new Subaru Outback arrived in our household a couple years back, it was helpless on wet pavement, snow, and ice until I put real tires on it. Luckily it has moved to Michigan with my ex-wife.
I mostly use my Toyota Tacoma TRD/Pro when the weather is bad or I have to cart stuff around. It has a very nice 4WD system, and I have super winter snow/ice tires on it, so I only have to put chains on when retrieving stuck people who are up nasty mountain roads here. In its default driving configuration though it is helpless as it is then 2WD, rear-wheel drive, and has an empty light bed. In the winter I put the bins with chains and extrication gear, which brings the weight up enough that it does well even in 2WD. My biggest complaint about the Toyota is that the stock bumpers/frame don't have enough recovery hooks to drag other people out, or to get it unstuck itself. Someday I may replace the bumpers with more purpose-designed parts.
When things are really bad, I use my bought-brand-new-in-1999 Hummer H1, which has a superb drive system, and perhaps most importantly, the ability to change the tire air pressure while sitting inside the cabin - I air down the tires to a very low pressure, and it manages to crawl through improbable terrain as if it had treads not wheels. Crawl is the essential part of this. It also has a winch that will move a house off its foundation, and I have plenty of winch equipment (blocks, chains, anchors).
If any of these vehicles loses traction of course, they are subject to billiard-ball-style Newtonian physics. Which is why I have been staying home the past few days.
https://i.imgur.com/9sCpYX3.jpg
One of the loveliest and most satisfying features of retirement is not having to leave the house. I'm so glad to not struggle with ice, snow, blinding rain, car malfunctions, etc. Bliss.
catherine
12-22-22, 7:55pm
I'm not retired, but don''t need to leave the house, and I agree. I love just hunkering down here, choosing when to brave the lake wind, and otherwise just stoking the wood stove. We are in the path of the bad weather, but it seems we will miss the very heavy gale winds. Still, I'm going outside now to take down my wind chimes, because they do get very annoying if we have strong winds at night.
And I love the snow. If you don't have to deal with it to get to work, it is a joy.You really feel a sense of that "stille nacht" when sounds are muffled by the snow, and all is white.
Portuguese John Here
12-27-22, 6:21pm
I like to go outside when it's cold, even when it's raining; it makes me enjoy even more when I'm at home, by the fireplace, knowing how cold it is outside, or when I'm laid in bed, and it's raining outside. My feelings of gratitude are often in contrast with the times when things were worse.
My neighbor's driveway, free-flowing river now more than a driveway:
https://i.imgur.com/rGkrCW8.jpg
The main road along the coast into the village. It got worse than this, with the utility poles out in the ocean water with waves breaking on them, and logs blocking both lanes of traffic and flowing into the kayak rental place on the other side. Luckily kayaks float.
https://i.imgur.com/qWK9u8V.jpg
This was on the way to visit my Mom's place here, the land was mostly flooded there to a depth of 4-5 inches, and the garage/barn suffered some flooding.
iris lilies
12-27-22, 8:02pm
Wow, bae. Doesn't look like you all have much snow left. A big mess.
Wow, bae. Doesn't look like you all have much snow left. A big mess.
Yes, the snow melted in less than a day when the temps went from ~20F to ~55F overnight. Along with a heavy heavy ice storm, followed by significant rains.
Fun times.
Did you get a windstorm on the island? One is predicted here, so I'm primed to go bury my head in a pillow and wait it out in bed. :help:
Did you get a windstorm on the island? One is predicted here, so I'm primed to go bury my head in a pillow and wait it out in bed. :help:
Yup, that was #3 or #4 on the list of tribulations of the last week, broken trees strewn all over.
I'm waiting for the rain of frogs next.
Teacher Terry
12-27-22, 9:13pm
In January 97 right before I moved to Reno they had a bunch of rain and warm weather that caused the snow in the mountain to melt and it flooded. They have since made changes to prevent this from happening again. Of course you are on an island so a much different situation. Hoping for the best for your island.
JaneV2.0
12-27-22, 10:21pm
Yup, that was #3 or #4 on the list of tribulations of the last week, broken trees strewn all over.
I'm waiting for the rain of frogs next.
Ha! Or a plague of boils.:(
My friends in Oregon are helpfully sending me pictures of downed trees and other neighborhood mayhem; a wholesome change from the usual car jackings and drive-by shootings, I guess...
littlebittybobby
12-28-22, 11:21am
Okay---Obviously, you kids have not resided in Zurra, 'specialy the SW part, where what I refer to as "climate streams" (gulf, arctic, western)intersect. Not all at the same time; THAT would be catastrophic. But yeah---today, what you have is #-inches of snow cover that will be all but gone, by the end of today, due to strong prevailing winds, a temp rise to the mid-50's, and clear, sunny skies. But--it's normal. Every year is different, but the same. See? No global---??? or whatever Greta-the-Teen-Propagandist calls it. See? That is good, because I need to cut some more wood, and do some yard work and move my backyard cottage project forward. Plus, the catts need some fresh air. They went outside for awhile yesterday, and about froze their tails off. Yup. Hope that helps you some. Thankjk Mee.
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