Hi Nancy,   
      
   On Wed 2011-Dec-21 20:20, Nancy Backus (1:18/200) wrote to Richard Webb:   
      
    NB>> moving somewhere where that might be a likelihood isn't an option   
    NB>> for her, though...   Besides, your cousin was probably just yanking   
    NB>> your chain...!     
      
    RW> I'm sure he was.  But, he ended up marrying a gal from   
    RW> eastern Canada, her parents owned a plantation of sugar   
    RW> maples, and he migrated up there to run that operation for   
    RW> them, learned to tap trees and boil down that maple sugar.   
      
   NB> Guess he gets plenty of snow now.. :)   
      
   Oh yeah he sure does now.  HE seems to like it up there   
   though.   
      
    RW> That same cousin and I put a tobogan through the ice on a   
    RW> creek one fine Saturday afternoon when we were both   
    RW> teenagers .   
      
   NB> Treasured memory, I'm sure...     
      
   Was a fun afternoon, the walk back to a friend's house   
   nearby to thaw out wasn't a whole lot of fun, but we made   
   it.  We still laugh about that one when we meet at family   
   gatherings occasionally.  Thing is I thought all was   
   copacetic, I used to ride a trail up through there on a   
   motorcycle, but should have known there was a good reason   
   why my buddy who lived on the property didn't recommend that hill for   
   sledding, but instead chose the other hill that was just as long, but a much   
   more gradual slope.   
      
    RW> NOpe, we're pretty much normal, our low this morning 36 F   
    RW> which was the high for MInneapolis.  Brisk and windy   
    RW> yesterday when we ran errands, i didn't bring along gloves   
    RW> or a head covering and wished I had when I had to get out to pump gas.   
      
   NB> Pumping gas always does seem to make the weather seem worse...   
   NB> breezes feel like gales, and always seems to feel at least 10   
   NB> degrees colder than it felt when one went out to the car...    
      
   Yep especially this place, exposed to east and wes when at   
   the pumps.  Our usual gas spot out this waysets up so that   
   vehicles and the building block that cold wind a little bit. Their clerk even   
   recognizes counterfeit money.  Yeah I know, somebody passed one that made its   
   way to us, and I not even   
   paying attention went to use it to pay for some gas there   
   one day about a eyar ago.   
      
      
    RW> Today isn't bad though, winds are back to 10-15 mph, temps in the 50's   
    RW> when I went out to take some garbage out this afternoon.   
      
   NB> Yeah, we've still been having that yo-yo weather here, too.  It was   
   NB> into the 50s today again, too...   
      
    RW> YEah I know, and we've got both extremes.  A cattle   
    RW> rancher/radio buddy of mine from central Texas is crying for moisture,   
    RW> so much so that he's moved some of his stock up to some land they own   
    RW> in NEw MExico, which before they just leased out to an oil drilling   
    RW> operation, but now he's running cattle on some of it, and he thinned   
    RW> down his herd a bit too even though he wasn't real happy with the   
    RW> prices he got so as to maintain a sustainable herd for the future but   
    RW> cull the excess he couldn't support with the water resources available   
    RW> to him.    
      
   NB> I heard of some of that happening on the news, too.  Shame, really.    
      
   Yep, strange weather, which lends quite a bit of weight to   
   the warnings the scientists are giving us on climate imho.   
   We may not like some of the political voices who've lent   
   their to the efforts, but these folks make some serious   
   sense.   
   We've settled into normal wx pattern for time of year, at   
   least so far, lots of run, of course, but as I said, rather   
   get it this way then deluges with tornadoes in the spring as happened last   
   year.   
   Got to go hit the post office box today, birthday &   
   Christmas present from mom should have arrived at P.O. box,   
   which should be a gift card, Walmart, which means I'll send   
   Kathy there later, she needs a couple of things, and I   
   desperately need a couple pairs of blue jeans so that's   
   where it'll go.  Sent the same thing to my grandson, guess   
   he used his to help do a couple of things for somebody else   
   who in turn kicked in equivalent $$$ to help him put new   
   rubber under his car, which makes em feel better since he's   
   driving about 100 miles every other weekend to go visit his   
   mom.   
      
   Wish I could get up early enough to corner our paper carreir though, I'd turn   
   him on to how to toss a newspaper in a bag   
   and yet keep the bag sealed and still make it a good   
   throwing missile.  YEs you gotta spend teh money for the   
   rubber bands too, you band it, then bag it.  Do that, and if you rolled and   
   banded it nice and tight you can then poof   
   all the air from the bag, tuck the end of the bag in around   
   it, you've got a nice tight throwing missile that goes where you throw it, and   
   the paper stays dry .   
   I don't mind this stuff though, other than the occasional   
   wet head going to and fro I'll take it, my antennas stay up, the tree limbs   
   stay *on* the trees and the ground gets  the   
   moisture it needs.  It can even do the freeze Christmas day   
   if it's really got to, I'm not going anywhere, I'll do all   
   my pre-Christmas errands today anyway and call it even.   
      
   Regards,   
              Richard   
   ---   
    * Origin:  (1:116/901)