Hi!
It's hard to believe that spring is here, especially with four feet of snow on the ground
in the backyard and another foot falling even as I write. I swear that the
new ice age is here. I needed my snowshoes again this morning to get to the
bird feeders to fill them. It's downright discouraging!
We had a great couple weeks in California over Christmas / New Year's. We didn't get to
visit everybody or do everything, but we sure tried! We really felt that
people were glad to see us, and basked in the warmth of their friendship.
When we got back home around midnight, we found that the furnace had broken and the house was just
above freezing. Fortunately, the pipes didn't freeze. After shoveling my way into
the driveway so we could pull the Trooper off the street, I called an emergency repair guy
and he came out and made the repair. Got to bed at 4:30 am.
About a week later we successfully chased the Northern Hawk-owl up in Whitefield. Very cool!
We discovered, however, that the 4-wheel drive had failed and the power steering
was failing on the Trooper. With 140,000 miles on it, it was time for a new car. So we bought a
brand new Subaru Forester at the end of January, only days before the
heavy snows began. It's great! When other vehicles are abandoned in the snow
and the plow hasn't been by for hours, the Forester still gets us there. And the heater works!
We have had three storms in the last couple months that dropped two or more feet of snow each.
Supposedly, today's storm will drop less, but it looks like it will beat all predictions.
Will it ever end?
The heck with this snow! We're going to South Texas for a week to look at birds
and butterflies and to wear shorts and t-shirts and get sunburnt. With luck
we'll see a bunch of new birds and return with uplifted spirits!
Best wishes,
Terry 3/30/2001