Brace for WINTER STORM LEON!!!

(Hello, random post out of nowhere!)

I tried not to get my hopes up for snow, this time, because last time they were oh-so-sure we were probably going to get snow, it failed to appear.  Evidently, I didn't do a good enough job of hope-suppression, though, because I'm disappointed that (at this moment) they're saying it'll probably be "wintery mix"... or sleet and freezing rain and maybe a few flurries.  Ok, maybe there'll still be snow, but it'll be ten miles to our north.  ;o) 

I'm charging the cameras, and I'll take photos of whatever we see.  Probably just ice, if anything.  Oh boy.  *sigh*

Apparently, The Weather Channel has named this weather event "Winter Storm Leon".  ...Leon?  Really?  I'm sure they have some system behind the names they assign, but... Leon?  I'm offended.  (I'm not really offended.  Just humorously miffed.)  The Northeast gets storms named Hercules and Janus.  The names of ancient pagan gods and/or demigods for every snow storm that blows through-- the kind of storms that Real Northerners would've yawned at, back before the media ushered in its Age of Hype and Hysterics.  (I was going to make fun of the goofy names, back when Janus was still around, but everyone else in the world beat me to the punch.)

So-- to get back to my point-- Northeastern storms are crowned with colossal names.  And yet, upon the approach of the first potentially significant winter weather event we've had in decades, the Gulf Coast gets measly little "Leon"-- reminiscent of that guy who gets his kicks hanging out at the local gas station for an hour or two in the mid-morning.  (No offense, all you Leons out there.)

Yeah, yeah, I know.  Northern snow storms are bigger and badder than ours-- but I defy any Northerner to provide a more dramatic (and entertaining) reaction to snow than your average born-and-bred Southerner.  We treat every single pathetic little melting flurry like the miracle it is, y'all.  We make snowflakes feel like "special snowflakes". 

...Ok, maybe not all of us.  But enough of us do.  Plus we have no experience driving in snow and ice... and our cars don't have snow-tires... and our cities don't have snow-plows or sanding/salting apparatuses...

Anyway.  All this fuss, and it'll probably just turn out to be a little cold rain!  (And yes, I'll be obsessively checking until all chance of snow is past.  With cameras at the ready!)

21/365 - Winter Twilight

Sunset creeps up on you, sometimes, and you realize you haven't yet taken a "photo of the day"...

I just realized that this is the third day in a row that I've focused in on (mostly) bare branches for my Project 365 photo.  (g)  What can I say?  I'm a creature of habit!  (And I like photos of trees and shrubs, apparently.)

Glaskogens Naturreservat

While Donald was in Sweden, he, Ingela, and Jocke went to Glaskogen (a nature reserve), where they roasted hot dogs on the shore of a frozen lake.

This is the same nature reserve (but not the same lake, I think) where we ate a late lunch, one afternoon, during our last trip to Sweden. However, "our" lake-- Sitjärn-- didn't look much like this when we were there. ;o)


Icy Glaskogen from Michael Johansson on Vimeo.

I tried something new (to me) when editing this video-- stretching out the clip to make it cover more time than it does in regular play-back. Actually, I also did this on the second part of the video of Trixie catching the frisbee, but that was somewhat different. In that case, you could definitely tell it was "slo-mo" (because that was the whole point). This time, I did it more to just make the clip last longer and to counteract the slight dizzy, blurry effect of panning too much, too fast. I'm not sure how well it worked, but it's at least watchable. I probably should've tried lightening it, too, as the trees are too dark-- but that's probably just a reflection of the weather that day. . .

Things that have been happening lately:

• Daisy's slowly recovering from another bout of seizures. At least we think we know what brought it on this time. The dosage on her medicine was off, due to a mistake at the vet's office. It's pretty frustrating that we'll have to watch them more carefully from now on-- but at least she's getting better again.
  
• Highs today will be in the mid-70s, followed by a chance of rain and maybe thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow. It doesn't feel much like February! It's nice to be warm for a day or two, but I'm glad the temperature will be going down again, soon. I don't mind spring, but I'm not ready for summer, yet. (Ok, I'm not ever ready for summer. It simply has to be endured.)
  
• Yesterday, I noticed new leaves on our hydrangeas and the beginnings of daffodils poking up here and there. I guess spring is on its way. (Today, it feels like it's already here!) I need to get into gear and do some yard work before it's sweltering again.
  
• Donald and I watched the extended versions of The Two Towers and The Return of the King over the weekend. I think that might have been the first time we say the latter since we watched it in the theater.
  
• I still can't see why Tolkien chose two names ("Sauron" and "Sarumon") that look and sound so similar. I remember being a bit confused when I read the books, too. Two of the very few women in the books also have similar-sounding names-- "Arwen" and "Eowyn". They're not identical, but they're pretty close, considering that he had his choice of all the names in the world (or out of it, since this is fantasy).
  
• I can barely remember the books. Of course, I was in middle school when I read them, so it's been a while. (g) I might try re-reading them, sometime. I'm not generally a big reader of fantasy, but a little variety can be nice.
  

It's that time of year again. . .

. . . time to make some paper snowflakes!

Or, if you're like me and probably won't make any of the "real things" this year, you can go to the Make-a-Flake website and do it digitally. Have fun! :o)