Coop's Corner: February

Sunday, February 10, 2019

February

One third of the way in and I've had enough. In my mind, we got away with "it" in November/December....almost as if winter was tardy and wasn't ready to begin until 6 weeks later.

A week and a half ago, colder than -35 and only a couple of days later, during last weekend's IMS show, we had the low 40's, Positive low 40's. Early this past week a 10" snowfall, then a day later another 7" and today another 2-4" predicted. And cold.

And today....

Today because it's cold, we've got light and fluffy. Is it pretty? Of course it is. I'll accept pretty....until the wind starts the drifting. That's when the snow and I stop being on as good of terms.

Yesterday was our local Sportsman's Club annual ice fishing contest and it appeared to be very well attended. No idea about the successes even though we can often hear their PA system from the next valley; there had to be winners.

Our Wednesday snowfall was just about the toughest SE Minnesota driving that I could remember; over 3 hours to get home. Heavy snow causing whiteout conditions with glazed over roads caused ditch exploration by drivers every hundred yards there for awhile. I made it to Frontenac, made it to our driveway and unlike the last snowfall, made it to within 10 yards of my destination. Size when it comes to ground clearance matters.

That storm's road conditions led to this, these photos taken on bright clear Friday morning.

With skillful driving, it was, the majority of the time, possible to keep at least one of a vehicle's wheel track on dry pavement. Not always and apparently, not for all of us. When I returned home from Red Wing, just approaching our turnoff, 6 cars evenly split, 3 in each ditch, the Sheriff just getting out of his squad.

This morning I was all settled in, finally trying to commit to paper and to an email distribution, my summer riding rally/trip plans. Peg took a call and I heard, "..oh no....he's here....". Our Hanna left Cleveland this morning in her Corolla, Red Wing bound. I'm her dad and she's still our little girl, the result, I'm on edge when she or any of her siblings are on the road in weather. No one is ever supposed to worry about me but I get to worry about all of them, any time conditions warrant.

Today's call wasn't from Hanna, at least not this Oh-No call; she's on her way, at this moment leaving IN for IL. Rather it was Peg's mom's Spark that wouldn't start in the public ramp in Red Wing, so off I went.

So I'm braving my elements and Eric is texting me his....and he's beside himself with delight!!

Once through the slow traffic in town, I made my way into the Public Parking ramp and find poor Sparky. All it needed was some more boltages and then all was well.

Once running, I took the Little Green One out for a 20 mile loop to put more life into the battery and to get it good and warm. I enjoy driving the little thing...this isn't the first time I've been in it. Gramma wouldn't like a clutch but I would.

Finally, as a reward for putting up with all of this....

I complain but not really.

6 comments:

RichardMFebruary 10, 2019 at 2:33 PM
"One third of the way in and I've had enough". I was wondering where this is going to go. For us, it meant escaping it for a while.
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motormikeFebruary 10, 2019 at 6:57 PM
Speedy got me a X mas present a couple yrs back that is better then the stupid Nutcracker pj's she got me.
A small battery jumper kit... about the size of a small hardback book. You could hand these out to yer clan members.. but then ya have no excuses to have pie.
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redlegsridesFebruary 10, 2019 at 9:14 PM
I used to look forward to snow here in the Colorado Front Range, now not so much...you guys get the serious snow!
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Others say....

"it was auspicious to approach any situation from a deferential, inquisitive place. Conceding that there is much to learn is the best blueprint for discovering something new." ----B. Fuller

The Man straightened stiffly above the block of salt fixed to the stake and looked at the young cattle ringed about him. The pasture was holding out well and the stock was looking good. This bunch would be ready to sell in another month, maybe sooner if the market was right.

A stir among the cattle down near the river brought him round to face the swinging bridge he'd built years before. Someone was coming toward him from the bridge. Someone in breeches, but it didn't look like a man, somehow. What was a woman doing in his pasture this time of night?

He bent over the salt again; maybe if he paid her no heed she'd go on past and let him mind his own business. He heard her footsteps come nearer and stop. "Good evening," she said.

Her voice was smooth with book learning but friendlier than most, and somehow almost shy. When he made no answer she went on, "I've been sitting on your swinging bridge....I thought I'd like to say thank-you...." Her voice stumbled a little, then she tried once more.

"You are Mr. ____". His name sounded strange in her voice, but she went on to tell her own.

"That's what they've called me the last sixty-eight years," he said, looking past her face to the hills fast darkening under a single star. "I reckon the woods are free for those that like to walk there."

The unfamiliar voice laughed a little. "That's what Emerson said: the grove belongs to the man who walks in it with an open heart....On that basis I guess I've owned part of your woods for a good many years.....". She made a final effort. "I've always wanted to thank you....."

Something deeply hidden stirred in him. "There's a stump up there, in the notch of the woods", he said slowly, "that before the timber grew so tall you could stand on it and see all over this country."

He kept still a minute, remembering, then, "I used to stand up there an' look at things, an' wonder how they come to be like they was, an' how the hills was created, an' all the things in Nature.... I told my wife I guessed all the religion I ever had I got standin' on that old stump, a-wonderin'..." He turned his face away from her.

She helped him out. "I know about that, a little. This afternoon I saw......." Her account of a thing she had really taken time to look at eased him, and he answered with telling of the badger den at the foot of the swinging bridge.

When she had gone, he turned to watch her. After a moment she stood clear and unmoving against the sky. You could hear the sounds of the river where she stood. She was one that could stand still long enough, he thought, really to hear what a body was saying, or a river.

Then she walked down the farther side of the slope and was gone. ------Margaret Snyder from A Chosen Valley

Fall was the end of harvest, end of the growing season, a burst of color and sun-warmth before killing frost turned the land gray and cold. Fall was a moody time, full of both life and death, a time when we were reminded of the power outside of us, reminded that the seasons happen to us. We do not invite the change to come.-------Ben Logan, from The Land Remembers

When you get those rare moments of clarity, those flashes when the universe makes sense, you try desperately to hold onto them. They are the lifeboats for the darker times, when the vastness of it all, the incomprehensible nature of life is completely elusive. So the question becomes or should have been all along, what would you do if you knew you only had one day, or one week, or one month to live. What lifeboat would you grab onto? What secret would you tell? What band would you see? What person would you declare your love to? What wish would you fulfill? What exotic locale would you fly to for coffee? What book would you write? ------- Ben Tyler

We were also cautioned about journeying far from home. As an example of the dangers, the town had a badly crippled lady named Lucy, who as a girl had traveled to New York City. As she traveled along a sidewalk, sightseeing, she was struck by the outstretched hand of a suicide who had leapt from high above. Her spine had been shattered and for the rest of her life, she was to walk bent forward at the waist, tapping the sidewalk with two black canes. Whenever the subject of travel to a big city was raised, someone would say, "Just remember what happened to Miss Tripp." ---- Ted Kooser, from Local Wonders

"Steamboats are like wedding cakes without the complications...." ----Mark Twain

"It's not about having lots of money, it's about having lots of options......." -----Chris Rock

As the very proud father of three former ponytail wearers, hopefully I can get away with this....."For the past few years it's been fashionable for young women to wear ball caps and to snap the strap on the back under their ponytails. I like the looks of that, their shiny ponytails jauntily swinging, but it's hard not to think of the rear ends of horses. There's a piece of harness called the crupper that goes just under a horse's tail to keep its nose down. If the horse lifts its head to look for a way out of whatever predicament it's in, the crupper tightens and hurts the horse. But it's foolish for parents to think that a ball cap might keep a young woman from running away. Anybody can see they're made for running." ------Ted Kooser, Local Wonders

"I tell the guy's girlfriend that the only difference between the book's main character Phaedrus and myself is that I am neither brilliant, tortured or insane, she looks at my bike and there is an uncomfortable silence." --------ahendepe (a.k.a. Vermin)