Re: Snow

*Written mid-last week*

Snow is lovely.. however, we should not get snow the day before I am planning to spend 8.5 hrs in the car driving across a number of states.
I realize that this is partly my problem for deciding to drive north in January, but still. We haven't had winter yet, would it kill someone to have it hold off for another 5 days or so?

It didn't stick, but when I looked up this afternoon and saw it my first two thoughts were, "Hey, neat, snow!" and "Aww, bugger, I don't want to have to drive in this, hope it doesn't stick."

It hasn't and hopefully it will stay that way.

Snow is fine, when I have a functional transit system to rely on (as in St. Petersburg, Russia), or when it is restricted to mountains that I (or others, I'm feeling benevolent) visit with the express purpose of playing with it. I suppose it's fine anywhere it doesn't get in my way, that's what this really boils down to.

For the history portion of this story. I've driven in snow exactly twice in my life. Both times were last December (2005).

The first I was at the fire department listening to people talk politics after a regular drill night when someone looked out the window and said, "guys, it's sticking, anyone with a drive better head out now." Given that I had an hour drive, I did. It was fascinating. Anti-lock brakes feel quite strange when they engage. But it was just loose pack snow, no ice under it and I got home just fine.

The second was that Saturday morning. I'd taken a red-eye flight to Dulles airport and as I started hearing the news in the terminal I realized that perhaps the Thursday's snow was a practice run for my drive to Winchester. It's very unnerving to go pick up your very first rental car ever, and have to scrape 4 inches off snow off of it before being able to depart. The radio was suggesting that everyone who didn't absolutely have to be on the roads stay home, schools were closed, etcetera. But here again I arrived safely. I claim blind luck and ignorance because on that trip I also discovered why it is a very good idea to also scrape the snow off your roof, but thankfully I did not run into anything while attempting to look through the that had (until I came to a stop) been located on my roof and was at that point covering my entire windshield.

So yeah, snow is only good if I don't have to drive in it.

*Post-trip addition*

Boston has come and gone. I drove back Sunday night in some less than pleasant rain, but blessedly there was no snow.

Yesterday the temperature here was 64 here, today the weather forecast is for a high of 34. A 30 degree drop in temperature overnight. Whee! And there are little flakelets of snow falling. They're so cute.

When it started snowing in Seattle last week, people started saying to the weather, "Go East where it's supposed to do this." I replied to many with, "No, not until after my road trip this weekend." It appears to have worked. Our very unseasonable weather held for long enough for me to get home and a generous margin of error thereafter. Thank goodness.

Kitten Approved Pictures: SP9 and Ornamental II

My parents and I went to Williamsburg for the New Year's. The wreaths they had on almost every door were quite fun to look at. Here's one of my favorites, the dried yellow flowers sanding out quite nicely against the green leaves and red wall.

I promised a picture of the lovely package my SP9 sent me forever ago. The kitty has approved both the package and the picture. I am looking forward to working up some washcloths with the cotton, but I am trying not to start any more projects before I finish at least one of the ones I already have on my needles. We'll see how long I actually stick to that resolution. At any rate, here's the package.



5 balls of Sugar'n'Cream in blues and greens, some fabulous chocolate. I ate the last piece just before the New Year's trip, it's the first time in a very long time that I've liked chocolate enough to ration it. It was in such perfect bite sized pieces to do just that. The raspberry hard candies are slowly disappearing, I don't tend to eat as much hard candy as I do chocolate, but they are quite yummy. Up at the top of the book, you can just barely see some stitchmarkers with fascinating square beads. I've not started a project with stitchmarkers lately, but I am looking forward to using them.

And now for the amusing part of this story. This is, actually, my third copy of Mason-Dixon Knitting. Kat sent out a request in her SP9 questionnaire, and I do believe that the powers that be decided that the entire family must have been in need of this book. I love this book and am very glad that this surplus allowed me to pass on the joy that is MDK, but I do find it laughable to have 3 copies of it in a one-knitter household. I am now down to the much more reasonable number of 2 copies having put together a very similar package for my SP when it was revealed to me that she did not yet have a copy.

(however much the kitten might like yarn, he does not knit)



Which brings me to my next kitten approved package. I got my ornamental swap package, a lovely box full of Wee's, all the way from Australia. Thank you, Belinda, thank you so very much! Aren't they cute? Their faces are so expressive for so little stitching.



Last, but not least we have the two ornaments that I sent out. They are the ones described in my ornament recipe from December. Quite fun to knit and take almost no yarn, but infinitely variable. Looking at them now I wish I'd thought to needle-felt some embelishment onto them, but I did not, alas.