Or, if you prefer, "ningit". The last time we had a White Christmas in Virginia was in what, 1983? It started snowing yesterday around noon -- my wife and I took her niece to see THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER (that is by far my favorite of the seven books, mind you) and by the time we got out of the movie it was starting to stick. Now, on Sunday morning, we have a solid three inches down and are warned to expect four inches more. Bravo! My wife and I will be having a cooked duck (not Donald -- I made certain of that) later today and then we will probably sit around and digest quietly while we watch HAVE GUN -- WILL TRAVEL (WIRE PALADIN -- SAN FRANCISCO) episodes on the Netflix Instant Viewing thingbobby. I have a bit of some Martell VSOP left, and I will sip that while stoking my pipe with an English Latakia blend while the kleine minipinzer is tucked between my legs on top of the throw.
My wife grew up in Michigan, and I grew up in Connecticut and "the 'burgh', Pittsburgh. We used to enjoy some REALLY heavy snowfall -- in Pittsburgh, you could count the number of snowfalls by just taking a snow shovel and breaking into a snowbank and counting the soot levels -- that was back in the day when the sky was greenish-yellow and the water tasted just fine to me, as I had grown to like having heavily polluted water. We would have a fresh snowfall (in the seven years I lived in the 'burgh, I do not recall a single snowfall heavier than seven inches -- but we might have seven inches on Monday and another on Thursday and another on the Sunday following) and it was magic for a teen-ager, the city turning from a dinge of grey to a sparkling white in the course of a few hours. And of course the trolleys ran even when the buses did not, and I can still hear the squeal of the trolley brakes as they hit the cut-off to the Castle Shannon line. And we used to put those real silver dimes on the tracks to get a flattened dime the size of a quarter.
My newspaper got a bit wet this morning and I have to let it dry out before I can read it -- my valet, Jenkins, took the day off so he is not available to dry it over the gas fire, even if we had gas in this all-electric house <he grins>, but then Jenkins is stretched tight at the moment trying to find a source for kippered herring for my plate. I might just forget to read it. I listen to a station over the Internet which only covers emergency news -- in three years, that has been zero interruptions, as the staff there share my cynical view of what to regard as an emergency.
The Global Climate Change folks -- NOT to fan the flames of another political argument -- contend that the warming of the polar waters has forced the Gulf Stream out to sea and to the south, so that the eastern part of North America and the western part of Europe will enjoy tropic summers and arctic winters. I am not certain that I disagree. We shall see if those palm trees in County Kerry in Ireland die off from the cold. They have been there, after all, for several hundreds of years.
I have to take my wife's car in for an inspection tomorrow morning at 10. No problem -- I grew up driving on snow-clogged lanes, and the dealership is closeby -- but Herself has suggested that she accompany me to get me to buy a new car, and I am loathe to do so, as I do enjoy driving a 1984 Audi with a perennially flat tire. We shall see if she can stir herself to join me on the joyfest of having her car serviced and inspected.
Otherwise, we can sit back and enjoy being snowbound. Be at peace, fine Rollei People. Hell, Jameson's 1.75l was on sale at the Class VI store the other day, and such a Christmas Present that was!
Marc msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxx Cha robh bàs fir gun ghràs fir! --- Rollei List - Post to rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx - Subscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'subscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org - Unsubscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org - Online, searchable archives are available at //www.freelists.org/archives/rollei_list
