I am waking up very slowly this morning. I had a bit of trouble getting to sleep last night, so I slept in. It’s snowing again and the temps are frigid.
Am I already sick of winter? Sort of, yes. But it just may be my mood this morning. I happened to look at the weather forecast and it shows 1-3 inches of snow every day during the second week of January.
Ummm…No.
I’m hoping that changes.
I quickly took some photos of corners of the den this morning.
I will probably go along with Don when he moves into his apartment in Manhattan, helping him settle in and doing my best to make the place cozy and welcoming. I may stay for a few days. Don is confused about when he starts rehearsals, but I think it’s on January 15th. He thinks it’s the 22nd. Either way, on the 20th, the 2018 Women’s March takes place. I couldn’t march last year, but I’m sure as heck going to march this year!
Time to make that second cup of coffee for Don and me.
Happy Saturday.
Oh how I envy you. March proud, Claudia.
I will, Sandy! Thank you!
Our Women’s March in San Francisco is January 20th. I couldn’t be there last year either but I am determined not to miss it this year.
Powerful women marching for change, Andrea! I take the date back. It’s January 20th in NYC as well.
I wish I could be there with you if only to cheer everyone on!…I will be there in spirit Claudia!
Good! Thanks, Nancy!
Frigid here too…frigid all over…sigh. I’ve had enough of winter! I’ll be marching with you in spirit…keep the faith. Enjoy your day! ;)
Thanks, Donnamae!
I hope that many, many people will be there with you and not just in spirit, as I will be.
Me too! We’ll have to see what happens!
Well, it seems like always, I wish I could give you some of what we’ve got and ‘if only’ you could give me some of yours. We were pushing 90 degrees and too hot yesterday. The day before, we noticed people returning to the beaches to play and sunbathe although of course tourism, due to the SoCalif wildfire, is ‘way, ‘way down. We’re supposed to be cooler today (70s daytime/50s nighttime, for as far out as they can forecast). And also of course, when we need it so badly, there is no real chance of rain (wishful thinking, they’re saying a ‘slight’ chance next Weds; but it usually never quite reaches us here) although there’s always hope.
After my 3rd doctor appointment of the week, since we were out and in the vicinities yesterday, we did (for the first time) somberly ‘tour’ the Upper Ojai/Santa Paula area where the Thomas Wildfire started (where the whole horrible thing began on Dec 4) and, well, let’s just say we probably won’t go in there for another couple of years as the devastation is beyond belief. It’s one of our favorite drives for Ventura County that will just have to wait. (Sounds selfish of me to say that. Like I’m only thinking of myself.) How the lovely, tranquil Thomas Aquinas College didn’t suffer serious damage is nothing short of a miracle. But I have no idea how they can bring back students next week (they all live on campus unless they’re married) because the incredibly-intense smoky/sooty smell has no way to blow out, caught back there at the edge of the back-country/forest, deep into a canyon/valley, and the families whose homes survived in the area must all be suffering some sort of airway discomfort or lung aggravation by now as we noticed them out in it(!) and trying to do cleanup.
Many other houses and barns didn’t make it. We’ve wondered these past three weeks (hard not to; I know people who lost homes near the college); but, really tough to see. There are three very-large ranches back in here that I was particularly worried about – one was once my employer; the other two belong to generations of longtime, land-wealthy families in the area (lemons, avocados, cattle – these people have help, of course, but are out there in it, working the land just like their ancestors; they’re not lightweights, not gentleman ranchers, they’re out there on horseback and at it every single day) and I was so relieved to see that, other than the borders/fringes (and, yes, it’s still quite a lot of destruction), the orchard/groves/their homes/long avenues of majestic palm trees did make it for the most part.
I didn’t know how much might have been wiped out; was nagging at me. These are places where, as a kid, when my asthma was better managed over the years, I was more active and could paddle about in the ranch reservoirs; ride horses; go on hikes; have picnics. As an adult employee, I’ve walked the groves; petted the ranch dogs. (I’m constantly dreaming about it since the wildfire and have had a lot of interrupted sleep. My husband said I’ve awakened gasping, not so much with breathing and my asthma, but like from a nightmare and, yeah, me and about a million other people, how can it not be.) Can’t imagine what the people went through or how they even got out of that area alive. I know it’s private-feeling and park-like; it’s a lot of needed space for certain livelihoods – – and my cousin’s husband really wanted to live there and they did, on eleven acres in the 1970s (they had lambs in the front yard; horses out back); but, it was never for me. Too closed in. I need the wide-open spaces of the valley floor, the flatlands, the coastal plain.
I haven’t heard if the former home of deceased actor Larry Hagman survived or not; it was a huge 23,000 sqft home behind electric gates. It had a series of pools he’d give over to firefighters in other fires for water drops (and those pools were there also of course to defend his own property). He had a helipad where he could get out in a hurry from his mountaintop. I attended a fundraiser there about 17 years ago; the Hagmans were always very welcoming to the community and made their home available for causes they believed in, but especially the arts. I heard the property was bought by a ‘religious’-affiliated organization about four years ago(?) but I know nothing of it; just hope the beautiful place which Hagman called ‘Heaven’ is still there…have to hope so, or I’m sure we would have heard/read something by now.
Yesterday, my doctor gave me three asthma/bronchi meds meant to help my own smoke-altered breathing, as the ‘ol lungs of mine are saying, “Enough!” (doesn’t help when we drive around these burn areas so I have partly my own self to blame although we’re always in a car with properly filtered air as they’ve instructed us to do; brand-new air conditioner installed; only filters the air in the car and doesn’t let the outside air in) – I really did need to hear her say to me (the doctor) that she doesn’t feel I’ve suffered any permanent damage from the dangerous particulate matter in the smoke; I’m instead just highly ‘irritated’ deep in the lungs as I assume are a large number of people, predisposed or not. The air quality is ‘good’ now according to authorities – so, we’ll heal, at least physically. My husband said again, and I know he means it and I know he’s right, “I’m done; I can’t look at one more charred thing.” The problem with that is that we’re black-burned in three directions, but if you can just avert your eyes and not look toward the hills, it’s time to start a new year with renewal and a forward-thinking attitude, putting Dec of 2017 in the rear view. January can’t get here fast enough.
Changing subject (yes, let’s do): Claudia, I can’t remember what you said, is Don’s apartment going to be quite near the theater so that, in all this severe cold, he can sprint from home to work PDQ? Is this the kind of ‘flat’ where he has laundry down the hall or in a building’s basement? No housekeeping, so you clean it yourself? I keep wondering how much you have to do to try to duplicate ‘home’ – basically furnished, even linens & towels? This could be a long run for him but they wouldn’t expect him to go into an empty apartment and trick it out. I have no idea how these things work, with provided housing for actors on Broadway. If it was a film set, they’d have a trailer or a hotel; I suppose a rented house; just never have stopped to think of it much. So, if you could refresh my memory…just trying to get it straight in my head as you talk about it in days to come (paint me a picture!). Thanks. Hope the second cup of coffee helped today.
Glad you went to your doctor and that you have some medication to help you, Vicki.
I have no idea about laundry facilities. I have a feeling that Don, like millions of NYers, will have to use a laundromat. But it will be furnished, just like the flat in Jersey City that he stayed in previously was. We can also bring things from home, so that will help. That’s all I know for noe.
Oh, so cold here, also. We have a Wind Chill Warning through Sunday into Monday. I think totally we have only had a total of about 3 inches of snow so far. It is so cold out that the kids can not go out and play in it. But it won’t melt anytime soon with these temps! It really is brutal.
I have been reading like a crazy woman. Loving it. The past several weeks there was always something I should have been doing, so reading wasn’t always easy. Well, this weather is at least good for something! Hope your Saturday (sure doesn’t “feel” like a Saturday) has been lovely!
I hate wind chill! We’ve already had a couple of warnings this month.
I keep forgetting what day of the week it is!
Just came in from shoveling snow. We only received about 1 inch. The broom was also used.
Marilyn
About an inch here, as well, Marilyn.
No snow here now, or in the forecast for the weeks ahead, but things can change quickly so maybe we will see some white on the ground in January at some point. It’s sure ccccold here though!
I can’t go the march, my feet just won’t hold up anymore, so please march for me too!!
I will, Diane! Thank you.