I'm Not Sure Why I Noticed This, But...

When you hold a logo pen in your left hand, the logo is upside down. Are we writing-off left-handed folks when we market by pen? Or are southpaws simply used to this sort of thing?

An Icy Day

I had a meeting this afternoon at the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control -- DNREC -- where I started my career as a state employee many, many years ago. DNREC's offices are in a converted factory complex and surround a very pleasant courtyard.

Today the eaves along the perimeter were sheathed in ice and sported impressive icicles. Of course, I had to take a photo or two.

Bleah. Cold Weather. Ice. Sick Kids.

Here we are with temperatures outside down at about 10 degrees and kids inside running high fevers and coughing away. There is a sheet of ice over all outdoors. What fun.

At least state government offices are opening late, so I can stay home and help with the first hour or so of nursing. I guess I'll try to clear my calendar this week so I can take a few full day's of sick-kid duty.

10:00 a.m. (Day Two)

Things look a little nicer this morning. It was a cold and windy night, but slight snow showers have dressed the ice up and made it a bit more pretty.

Looks like nasty day on the roads, though. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next day or so with schools. Around here, the main roads get cleared fairly well when this sort of storm happens. It's the back roads, however, where most of the students live, that stay ugly. My money is on at least a major delay on Monday.

And how did Christina's snow-girl fare?

Two things are clear. The prevailing wind in this storm has been in this poor snow-girl's face. And ice is heavy, heavy stuff.

5:48 p.m.

Crap! Freezing Rain. It didn't change back to snow.

To our north and west, this wet was all snow, and lots of it. In coastal Sussex County, we have puddles instead and should have iced slush in the morning. Curse you, warming influence of the Atlantic Ocean.

All the have-to-stay-at-home and none of the pretty-white-fluffy-world. Crap.

3:00 p.m.

It's just recently switched over to freezing rain, with a hint of sleet. Icky. Christina did get a chance to get out and make a snowman.

Well, a small snow-girl, in point of fact.

1:30 p.m.

It's been snowing since about 11:00 a.m. Just returned from Milford and the SAT's. A fine, but not quite powdery snow. Quickly coating the roads. The main road, State Route 1, was mostly snow-covered. Some places (where the road crews are better, I guess) were more wet than snowy. Saw only one vehicle in a ditch; an SUV, of course.

The SAT!

Wow. This morning I dropped Colleen at Milford High School to take the SAT. She's only in seventh grade, but is taking the test as a part of her application for the Academic Challenge program.

The school lobby was loaded with high school kids there to take the test in their normal course of college applications. Luckily, the test administrators called all the seventh grade takers over to one side and set the kids up fairly quickly in their own testing rooms.

It was a strange feeling to leave her there to take a test that I still associate with that period in my life when I was making the transition into adulthood. She's still a kid, but she's very bright and she's more grown-up every day.

And I get older too.

Inauguration Day, 2005

Mom and Dad taught me: if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.









I hope folks are bundled up for the parade. I hope they don't get too cold.

Let It Snow

We finally got snow in Delaware. I welcome it, though I was saddened to learn that there was a fatal wreck on Route 113 today, caused by the weather.

This has been an odd winter. Conditions have been all over the weather map, from 60s one day to 30s the next. Our collective sinuses are taking a beating.

Today's snow was light, only a dusting really. But it was a pretty snow. The cold that finally settled over us in the last few days brought the ground temperatures down low enough that this snowfall stuck and did not melt. It also fell as fine light snow, rather than the clumpy wet stuff we often get in this part of the world where winters are generally warmer.

Above is a shot from late afternoon, looking north up Route 30, towards Milford. I pulled over in an old parking lot about halfway between Milford and Milton to see if I could get some sort of photo. It was my only chance to stop on my way to get Christina from her dance class, so I took the best shot I could.

I realize that this just isn't much snow, after all, I learned my snow-driving skills in central Maine. But for Delaware, especially downstate. A snow like this, especially given hat it quickly covered the roads and packed down, is a rare chance to slip and slide.

The drive home was slow and cautious. People here are not used to driving in snow, though they get some practice. About half of folks drive way too slow and the other half way too fast. I try to lead by example; not so slow as to be an obstacle but not so fast that I can't plan ahead, slow down and stop without having to slam on the brakes or yank on the wheel.

It's all about control.