Tuesday, January 11, 2022

Male Goldfinch in Winter Plumage

 

13 comments:

  1. This from my cousin on Vancouver Island, a little north of Victoria:

    "Going through very bizarre weather up here. Last Thursday, my driveway (which is quite long with gravel) had 12-14 inches of snow on it. Since then it has been rained on. Then the surface froze. Then it warmed up and the bottom turned to slush and froze again. Sometimes, I was able to walk on top of the crust of snow. I have never seen all of this happen before. Yesterday, I drove my truck off the property as I needed to get some hay bales. It took me several tries to get it back up to the house as it does not have snow tires. Today was the first day I had enough nerve to drive my car off the property."

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    1. Hard frozen slush is the worst! It's bumpy and icy and really harsh to fall down upon.

      I do like a good crust atop snow, though. I'm usually able to walk atop it. Watch out for the soft spots, though! Ha! I've lost a boot or two and had to recover it standing on one foot.

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  2. We got down to -10ºF last night here. Then this afternoon I saw that it got up to a balmy -2ºF. It'll warm a tad the next couple days (and we'll make sure we're stocked up). Then on the weekend temps will dive even colder, to as low as -21ºF at Root*Center*Son's house, Saturday night. On Monday, 9-14" of snow expected.

    I love it!! It means that scorpions and Black Widow Spiders won't be migrating north this year!! YEAH!!

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    1. The brass monkeys might confine themselves to warmer climes too. . .

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  3. Stop Fetishizing Old Homes [Click] “Whatever your aesthetic preferences, new construction is better on nearly every conceivable measure.”

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    1. I remember the old (Victorian era) houses where I grew up. Among other things they were firetraps.

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    2. All houses in the west are newer than many houses in the east. Unless you have really lived in one, you honestly couldn’t understand. It’s like the difference between a new neighbour and your beloved grandmother.

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    3. Old houses out here are generally far less earthquake resistant, in addition to being far less fire resistant than newer ones (since 1950 or so). It is said that back east there are a lot of brick buildings, but out here "brick" buildings are almost all balloon frame buildings with brick facades because historically wood has been inexpensive and brick the opposite. I was about thirty years old before I saw a brick building that had no cracks in it--I was incredulous; I walked all around the building, looking at every corner of every window and door on every floor. Seattle is scary--lots of brick buildings, including big apartment buildings. In the old part of town, centered on Pioneer Square, the quality of the brickwork is very poor.

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    4. Maybe all those old brick buildings in Seattle will be replaced with earthquake resistant structures before the next great earthquake hits--but very likely not; it could happen any time.

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