Sunday, December 4, 2011

Colder and More Snow

We got 7 inches of new snow yesterday, and we're expecting another cold front tonight, with colder temperatures and more snow.  But I'm happy to be here - I walked to the grocery store this morning in 15 degree weather.  I was wearing my underwear, a pair of jeans, a pair of wool hiking socks, a pair of sneakers, a T-shirt, a sweater, and my hooded coat.  Walking back from the store, I had sweat running down my neck and running down my sides.  It was nice to get back into the apartment and remove the coat and sweater; then I stepped into the bathroom and mopped up the sweat with a towel.  Nedi is still loving being able to play in the snow - he runs and jumps and pats chunks of snow  and chases snow that falls out of trees.  Lovey has decided it's better to just stay inside. 
All the sidewalks and parking lots and local streets are clear of snow.  There were a couple of spots where I took baby steps to cross ice patches, but it was pretty easy to walk.  At least I'm not in Koblenz, Germany, where they have evacuated 45,000 near the Rhine.  Because of drought conditions, the Rhine's water has fallen quite a bit.  On Thursday, an old metallic object was spotted in the river - turns out it was an unexploded 1.8 ton British bomb from World War II; next to it was a 275-pound unexploded American bomb,  and a smoke grenade.  All three devices are to be defused today; but, just in case, residents in a 1.5 square mile area have been evacuated.  They were told to close all doors and windows, to close all shutters (if they have them), and have been taken to safety zones.  I understand that finding unexploded World War II ordinance is still a frequent happening in areas of Europe that were bombed.  That's why I'm glad I live here - even if our high is supposed to be 24, and we're expecting another 4 to 8 inches of snow tonight and tomorrow!
I watched four college games during the past two days - West Virginia, LSU, and Oklahoma State won, as I had hoped.  Virginia Tech fell to Clemson (drat!) - and it was during this ACC Championship game that I was surprised to hear an announcer state that "tomorrow is Tebow time out west."  If it had been the SEC game, I wouldn't have been surprised - but the ACC?  In any event, the Broncos play the Vikings (there) in about 90 minutes...  We'll see what happens.

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