Skip to main content

It's a Jolly Day!

Today, it's -2 degrees Fahrenheit right now at 3:1o in the afternoon. And there is a stiff wind. Brrrr. With that in mind, here is another pre-Christmas illustration culled from the Internet. Today, it's a bucolic winter scene that I really like, especially all of the Cardinals sitting in the Birch trees that the family sleigh is going past. We have a small birdfeeder hanging from an apple tree in our back yard, and the Cardinals are stunning against all of the snow and ice when the sunlight hits them. Even the less spectacularly colored females are beautiful. Of all the songbirds in North America, I think the Cardinal is my favorite. It is the state bird of North Carolina, Illinois, and possibly others.


A slightly out-of-focus Grand Duke Irwin-Amadeus II and the Grand Duchess Sonja pose for a photograph at Lapham Peak Nordic Ski Area yesterday.

Yesterday was an excellent skiing day! Out of the car, clipped into the ski bindings, and on the trails by 10:35 that morning. A foot of snow, temperatures in the mid-20s Fahrenheit, all trails open, deep tracks, occasional light snow, and not too many other skiers. Oh, and not too many falls either! I call falls "making snow angels with poles". Anyway, we got in almost three hours before lunch and then another two hours afterwards.


The best part of the day was during our final long descent at dusk, when they turn on the lights. For several hundred yards, you descend through a large grove of tall Fir and Hemlock trees as you approach the bottom of the run. It's like what I imagine skiing in parts of Austria or Southern Germany must be like. Amazing!

After changing into dry clothes, we headed to a nearby Greek/Latino quick-and-greasy diner that we like for a dinner of chicken kabobs and gyros sandwiches before the ride home, which was exciting to say the least. Once we crossed the state line just north of Rockford, Illinois, we drove into the front edge of a weather system that was the front edge of a blizzard out in Iowa. Not much additional snow, but frequent whiteout conditions thanks to high winds for about 100 miles along Interstate 39 south toward Bloomington.

At times, traffic was moving at about 20 mph, and all of us had our hazzard blinkers on, and we came to a full stop for several minutes at one point. For all that, we were only about an hour late arriving home and got here about 11:45pm, just in time for some more coffee, a few tangy Clementines, and another episode of Boston Legal (thanks to the arrival of a NetFlicks DVD in the mail yesterday) before drifting off to sleep at about 1am. It was a gloriously mispent Saturday!

Today, we are tired and stiff, but we are already planning our next skiing foray, which we will take right after the first of the year. Most likely we will head up to Houghton/Hancock Michigan, weather permitting, on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan -- actually the smaller Keewinaw Peninsula, which sticks out into Lake Superior like a little finger. When we camped up there during the summer of 2007, we discovered lots of Nordic skiing areas, including an impressive series of trails just off the campus of Michigan Tech, where the university's cross-country ski team trains each winter. Since the area is not too far from the lake, they get lots of snow up there during the winters. Needless to say, we are looking forward to the trip.

Comments

Bluebear Jeff said…
Glad that you two had a wonderful day.

We've currently got about two feet of snow on the ground . . . and it is still coming down . . . which is VERY UNLIKE the usual Vancouver Island winter.

And, if you've seen my blog, I don't really hate you (despite the title):

http://saxe-bearstein.blogspot.com/


-- Jeff
Fitz-Badger said…
Sounds like a great day out (and I wouldn't call it misspent!). :-)
One thing about living in southern Calif. - we keep our snow up on the mountains where it belongs, for the most part. I saw a car with a thick pile of snow on the roff the other day.
Capt Bill said…
It always amazes me that people actually live in frigid places. The Duchess and I has Sunday brunch at the club and had to endure a beautiful sunny day in the mid seventies. I expect tomorrow will be just another terrible day in paradise. Best wishes and happy holidays...Bill
littlejohn said…
Just a cold snowless chill here in the Königreich hills...but we Bleilanders envy you from afar!

best
--Dave
Martin said…
Good Lord Stokes,

Sounds like quite an adventure! How in the world do you keep your lenses from fogging over?! No snow yet here in Indiana, but there is a wind that is colder than a Step-Mother's charity getting with the program.

Yours,

Martin
littlejohn said…
and Cardinals are truly magnificent...
Bluebear Jeff said…
*sigh* . . . those of us who have spent our whole lives west of the Rockies have never even SEEN a cardinal.


-- Jeff
tradgardmastare said…
Good to hear that you had a super time!
best wishes
Alan
p.s Do you any time to paint at present?
guy said…
V interesting post.

Q -'How do you keep your lenses from fogging over? '

I have the same problem as I normally wear my sun glasses with my lenses but if the snow is really dumping, I have a pair of goggles which fit over a sturdy cheap pair of glasses I bought especially. Alternatively I follow my girls when they go on strike and we repair to a mountain cafe until the worst has either blown over or the coffee and snappes has given me dutch courage.

Guy

Popular posts from this blog

Presenting the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere!!!

Here they are, with the rearmost nine figures still drying, three squadrons of the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere, now in the service of the Grand Duchy of Stollen. And now, it's onto that artillery!

Taking Stock Part II: The (As Yet) Unpainted but Planned OOB. . .

  Two companies of Reichsarmee grenadiers painted back in 2017 or 2018.  Minden Austrians of course. A lovely early autumn day here in the grand duchy.  Bright sunshine and a light breeze with cool temperatures will make for some very pleasant late afternoon lawn mowing in a little while.  But first a bit more discussion of painting plans for the future. Last time, I looked back at the various and sundry units, support troops, and civilians that I've managed to paint in the last 17 years as the Grand Duchy of Stollen project has developed.  So today, let's look into the seemingly bottomless Drawer 'o' Lead to my left for a clue to the new direction.  Be forewarned, it's not going to be a quick job getting everything painted and based, but there we are. The following plans are based on the pile of unpainted figures already here.  Any future purchases will be limited to small things that might be needed to fill out the envisioned units (the odd few officers mounted o

Having a "No Day". . .

  F or the almost 20 years that she lived in Mexico, one of my late mother's Irish friends frequently mentioned having a "No Day."  A day with no social obligations, chores, tasks, or other work that interfered with whatever personal interests took one's fancy on the day in question. Since today -- a gray and chilly Saturday -- is Mom's birthday, the Grand Duchess is out with friends, and the Young Master is ensconced on the sofa in the TV room with a cold, yours truly is taking his own such No Day.  I think Mom would approve of my decision to make the world go away, as the old Eddie Arnold song intoned, even if only for a little while. So, I will spend Saturday afternoon focused on that first squadron and small regimental staff of Eureka Saxon cuirassiers.  These have stood waiting  untouched over on the painting table for almost three weeks while we skied and otherwise gadded about with snowy, winter outdoor activities. I hope to share a painting update Sunday a