So in the face of outlier weather events, or any oddball events, a couple trends show up 1. I and some of the guys I work with eat more....yesterday before the big freeze, we all ate breakfast, then at work ate our lunches as second breakfast. Then stopped for food later... 2. I find myself finding chores and stuff to wrap up, tidy up etc. Explanations: like animals who respond to weather and natural events we do too. My running logic beyond that: if there is anything in front of us that will likely take our attention, I'd like to have various bases covered. In the middle of whatever excitement (weather, natural disaster, man made events, local or larger scale) I don't want to have to run out for gas, get food, haul wood in, do laundry, clean the house, fix things, car repair....especially if we've had time ahead of event to get things done. I do what I can to live prepared, but there is a noted different motivation ahead of an event. I also noticed that the events have gotten less serious, that make me look around and size things up. Condition Orange. Thoughts?
Can't say I change my eating habits. If I see a deep freeze coming, yes I'll make sure to have plenty of wood in the basement and other important supplies. Rarely do we get events that cause multiple day stay at home scenarios. I miss those big huge deep azz snows we used to get. The older I get though, the more I hate what those conditions do to our vehicles.
Always liked to hunker down and ride out the cold, wind, snow. Hopefully during the middle of a good book or some binge TV watching and not during an indoor project! I notice I look out the windows a lot more during bad weather!!
I have wood in the basement , food and beer. Plenty of indoor projects ; might be able to spend some time on kitchen table I started building. Only forcasted for a couple days of cold and I will be working half day on Saturday at second job but that is inside and should be warm. Sunday back up into 40's so will be a day of cutting and or splitting. It will be over before I know it.
Tomorrow morning I’ll move wood into the basement. I’ll load the truck up for a delivery to an elderly couple that wants big pieces and little pieces. They are looking for something that will help burn what I’m assuming is green hickory. I’ll use the proceeds to buy lunch. I’ll stack a pile of splits made last weekend. If I’m still in the mood for wood, I’ll cut some rounds to split Sunday. Dicking around the house on rainy days will have me eating more.
Got everything done by noon; temperature hit double digits below zero. Daughter (17) school closed. Everyone in stove/living room our viewing so far Lady & the tramp.. Aristocrats Woodstove is burning nicely This is why I have a woodstove and am a firewood hoarder
A big pot of hot soup and a good stiff drink are my evening reward on this cold windy day ,my chickens were fed double rations and bedding was changed to reduce moisture in the coop. 25* outdoors going down to 12* 71* indoors with wood as my only heat.
I'm just fascinated by the mindset that goes around. At the slightest scare from the weather guessers, people run for the stores. Maybe from a blip of news that turned bad quickly? Or worse than predicted?
I actually like working outside when temps get cold. Now it's not going to be below zero, or anything extreme. Maybe real feel in single digits with the wind. I enjoy the quiet and the stillness the cold brings. None of my neighbors are out and coming in to a warm fire is just a wonderful feeling. So tomorrow I hope to do some cutting, splitting, and stacking. Tonight was a crisp and clear night. I enjoyed watching the space station fly over from one of the higher points in the county.
I grew up on a dairy farm. From there I went to the woods as a logger then to the sawmill, which was an outdoor mill. We never thought much about weather but were always prepared. As stated above, it is crazy how folks act today. Even just a mention of snow, even an inch, makes some folks go berserk. Just yesterday I made a quick stop at a grocery store and found it amusing how people were dressed and it brought back a memory. One day it was a bit chilly in late fall when I stopped at that store. I saw ladies bundled as if it were -10 and windy. The temperature was 30. Some, I think, listen to the media, who love to make mountains out of molehills rather than thinking for themselves.
It’s absolutely nuts… my daughter is a teacher and she was talking about everyone complaining about the “unusual amount of snow” this year. This is where we just bought our retirement property. I had driven down past the property and taken a look to see how these drifts were piling up. So far, I’m seeing the “annual snowfall” this year is around 38-40” depending who you talk to. so I went searching for “annual average snowfall” from NOAA. meeker county and cottonwood counties aren’t much different. But we haven’t had an “average snowfall” for several years. Now that we are getting close, people are seeing how mild things have really been. be even nicer if we have a slow spring thaw so this moisture has a chance to actually soak into the ground and not run off.
Yeah, our temps have been hovering around -17 *F to -20F at night and today it’s finally above zero for the first time in a week. supposed to be +30ish*F. About 50* warmer. Guess I’ll go cut round this weekend.
I really enjoy these cold snaps, and enjoy the quiet that comes from everyone else hunkering down in their homes. I don’t do much to prepare for them, as at any given time I’m well stocked with anything I might need for a short term event. I do bring in more firewood though and more high BTU stuff than I usually do.
