Welcome to March

So today we enter the month that heralds the end of winter. And what will tomorrow bring? As of a day or two ago, the weather forecasts were suggesting a bit of foul weather but nothing big. As of this morning, snow and lots of it. The last forecast I saw (about an hour or two ago) was 8 to 14 inches! Isn't that just fabulous?

Newly added to our schedule today: fire up the snowblower and make sure it's ready to go!

Between the above line and this one was a break of over an hour. We went to drag the snowblower out of the shed and put it in its forward-deployed position. What? Forward-deployed position sounds sexier than "put it in the garage, so it will be ready to go in the morning." :)

When we pulled the snowblower out of the shed--after moving lots of other stuff out of the way--we also grabbed the gas can (which is made of plastic, but the "can" appellation persists), only to find it empty. So I dumped one of the special little bottles of oil into the gas can (the snowblower and trimmer both run on a 50:1 gas-oil mix), and then we went to the gas station, filling up the car and putting a gallon into the can.

When we got back here, we filled up the snowblower and proceeded to start it up. Or, rather, tried to start it. It eventually started, but if you ever hear the Toro folks telling you their machines start with one pull, don't believe it! Sure, once it's warmed up, if you shut it down, it will start back up with one pull. But if it has been sitting for months, forget about one pull. Forty-one pulls, perhaps, but not one. We primed it, set the choke and began the workout. I pulled. Marc pulled. I pulled. (Sounds like it should be more fun, doesn't it?) Anyhow, it eventually started, but it was serious work.

So we let it warm up until it would run with the choke completely off. Then we shut it down and put it in the garage, ready to go. Now let's see what tomorrow brings. With the snowblower ready, it wouldn't surprise me if we just got a dusting (like bringing an umbrella usually holds off rain).

Now, having nothing to do with this, I was going through some old photos on the computer downstairs, and I found two that bring back some memories...


The late, great Shirley

Shirley laid herself to rest in the crawlspace under the back of the house. It's too small for a human to fit in (so perhaps "crawlspace" is the wrong name for it), so there she remains, her only visitor being her son. Yes, as creepy as that may seem, he moved back in after he got over the loss. He cried to us, no doubt confused by his mother suddenly dying, disappeared for a while, came back skinny and still was very afraid. Thankfully, with time, he put weight back on and now looks like his old self. However he has made peace with it, I'm glad he did.


Aaron and Mandy

That last photo was when Aaron was saying goodbye to Mandy. He was finishing his stay with us and heading for Florida. I remember the day, and something tells me Mandy does, too. They enjoyed Aaron's company, and I think they missed him when he left.

Well, that was a melancholy ending to the post. Sorry for that. But I suppose life has such moments. Perhaps it's fitting. My thoughts today are largely focused on Pua. She is dealing with her own health issues, as well as her mom's deteriorating health. Pua, you're in our thoughts!