Today was a mixed bag of weather. We had a little snow - it came in waves, squalls or showers, sometimes floating gracefully over the landscape, other times raging in swirling clouds off trees and rooftops or whipping horizontally down West Shore Road. During the late forenoon the sun came out. I was having a mild attack of cabin fever and when I saw the sun, I knew I had to get outside. It was very pleasant. A little chilly 26 degrees compared to our rainy 50 degrees yesterday, but snow had fallen onto the ice that was exposed during the rain and when it froze it made a thick, rough, crusty surface that wasn't at all slippery. It was good not to have to be as on-guard as most winter walks this year. 
     I made it up Jamie and Marie's driveway with only one brief stop to fish a tissue out of my pocket to fix a nose drip. When I got back to the house, we had homemade vegetable soup and a sandwich for lunch - and then I went back to work. Cabin fever gone.
     I measured another three inches of new snow this morning. We lost some during the rain the last couple of days, but still have a substantial amount on the ground. I was glad that the snowbanks made from my shoveling off the deck had reseeded and pulled away from the lattice enough so this morning I was able to shove the snow under the railing and over the edge instead of having to hoist it up and over the railing. I sort of scoop it off - lots easier on my back, and it doesn't fly around to skew my measurements.
     We had a very nice young man come from SunCommon solar a few days ago. This is about the third time we have considered doing a solar installation, but every time has ended the same - we don't really use enough electricity to make it a worthwhile investment, at least from a purely financial aspect. On the other hand, we would be contributing to helping the environment. But we have pretty much already done that by installing a super-efficient boiler and tightening up the house. Solar was tempting though, and if we were 20 years younger, I'm sure we'd do it. When we first thought of solar it was pretty new and not very efficient at the time - and very expensive. And even then, before we'd done as much to make the house energy efficient, we were using less than normal electricity. Now, solar is more efficient and costs a bit less, but we have also reduced the amount of energy we use, so it still isn't viable for us. And we still conserve, turning off lights when not needed, and lowering the insulated window shades when the temperature drops.
     Which reminds me about our car. When we first got it, the first time I came to a stop light on a hill and sat there with my foot on the brake pedal, the motor died. I remember I was in traffic and my first thought was, what the heck will I do if it won't start?  Then I realized it was supposed to do that. The motor goes into "sleep" mode to conserve energy when idling in traffic. There is a bit of an annoying jerk when it powers up again, but I've gotten used to that now. I'm still not altogether used to having the motor cut out like it does, though. But it always starts up again. I just don't feel I have as much control over it as I would like.  I'd be a nervous wreck in a self-driving car.
     January is nearly gone - I'm wondering what February has in store for us!
      Just as I was about to turn this off for the night, I found this photo and email from Nancy Buttura. Thanks, Nancy - finally a glimpse of what som of our Joe's Ponders are up to in Florida! Here's what Nancy said: 

A group of Joes Ponders getting together in Jupiter, Florida.  In the picture are Larry Rossi and Michelle Parker, Billy and Bo Keach, Robin and Mark Nicholson, Ernie and Barb Thurston, Fella and Nancy (taking the picture)Buttura and Patty Coburn.  As you can imagine it was a fun night.

I just bet it was a fun night!! Great to see you all. It won't be long now before you're back at the pond, basking in the luke-warm sunshine. Just look at all those beautiful tans!