Weekend Nor'easter #3

Third nor'easter this month on its way, should be here tomorrow morning. Shovelling out after a nor'easter puts me in bed for three/four days after, I am so-o-o-o looking forward to this one (not). Plus, after a big dump of snow it's forecast to also deliver a hefty load of freezing rain, which should make shovelling even more fun (not). I would hire someone to do it but I don't know anyone, or even how one would go about finding a snow shoveller. Snow ploughs are easy, shovellers not so much. Last year the girls next door were quick to volunteer help; this year it's guys with a snow blower who like to blow their snow onto my property.

On a bright but kind of weird note, I saw four robins in the bushes behind my back yard today. In January. I guess some of them have started overwintering here.

Another bright note, I have at least two pairs and possibly three of cardinals coming to my birdfeeder. I recognize two of the males, one is skinny and light red ('Pinky') and the other is fat and dark red ('Big Red'). Cardinals are skittish and not particularly sociable, the males and females tolerate each other but only just. But two males? Big Red beats up on Pinky something fierce. Pinky is always looking over his shoulder when he comes to the feeder.

Four mourning doves have taken up residence under my house. There's an overhang at the front of the house surrounded by wooden lattice with a couple of holes in it just big enough for the doves to slip through. The birdfeeder is nearby so when the weather is bad they can just pop out to check for seeds on the ground; when the weather is good they hang out on the power lines. I like the doves, don't mind them hanging out under the house. At first I was worried that they were trapped there but having seen the two holes they use I don't worry about them anymore.

I did get out skating once or twice but there's been too many big dumps of snow for volunteer shovellers to manage so the ice is pretty much buried now, except for one small rectangle for the hockey players. Just as well, a nice sheet of smooth ice is too much of a temptation for me and I pay for it afterwards.

My social life is down to zip. I am too tired and dizzy to get out for more than necessary grocery shopping. Omicron has pretty much put paid to anything more than that. Most days I can't even get up the energy to phone someone. 

On a really nice day I'll walk to the Reservoir, and once this month I actually met someone there that I knew. We only know each other through dogwalking at the Reservoir and she lives in another town, we have no friends or acquaintances in common. She's quite a bit younger than me but somehow we connect on a very personal level. So we exchange complaints about life in general, and get a few laughs. Hapi isn't around anymore so her dog has no one to entertain him while we are jabbering on. His patience eventually wears thin and he finally starts whining about it. 

I like that we have this odd relationship where we have little in common on the face of it but can talk endlessly about it. Since neither of us is regular about our Reservoir walk timing, it only happens sporadically.

And on and on it goes

Happy New Year.

I guess.

Well, maybe it will be, who knows. The signs aren't good though.

I walked to the Reservoir this afternoon, looked at the melting ice. A week ago I got to skate on it when it was a glassy smooth sheet of ice, now it's a mess of melted ice, pooled meltwater and piles of melting snow.

Eventually it'll freeze up again, but whether it will be glassy smooth or not is anybody's guess. Usually the first few days after it first freezes are the best, but then it's not very thick so you're taking your chances. Best not to go alone.

On my way home a friend who was driving by stopped and asked if I wanted a ride or not. I jumped in her car and said, "Your timing is perfect!"

These days I am out of bed no more than 6 hours a day at best, most of that time taken up with chores and errands. But if the stars line up, the weather is good, and there's no chores or errands, then I can go for a walk. I can no longer walk to the Reservoir and back without exhausting myself, so I was glad she showed up when she did.

She's not in much better shape than I am, doesn't know if it's physical illness or depression. I said, "Does it matter?" Not a lot one can do about it either way.

We've both gone in search of laughter, I found it in old "Seinfeld" shows and she in "Friends". By the time she dropped me off I think we both felt better, nothing like a good laugh to cure what ails you. Temporarily anyway.

My son's family in Toronto all have the Omicron. Today they said Ontario has more than 18,000 new cases, and since they're not doing extensive testing that's just the tip of the iceberg. It's the same here, we have no idea how many cases there really are. Today I read that the booster shot wears off pretty quickly; 65-70% protection at best and down to 45% after 10 weeks. Israel is already starting a 4th round of shots.

We're doomed I tell ya, we're doomed!

Since I am not really up and about that much, I have less to report that's anywhere approaching fun or even pleasant; so I probably won't be posting that much. There's only so much gloom I can write about before I bore myself.