This week’s post will consist of a little of this and a little of that. No major theme.
Local weather has warmed into the mid 50 degree range the last few days, above our normal highs by 10 – 12 degrees. Snow on our lawn is almost gone except for a few piles that are in the shade all day. Robins have returned and we see some birds flying in and out of the nesting hole in the cottonwood tree in the front yard. Pam says she saw a couple of iris shoots coming up through the leaf mulch. Is spring really near?
I took the ATV out for a ride today. There’s still a lot of snow in elevations just a few hundred feet higher than De Beque. Chance of snow is in the Thursday night forecast with undoubtedly a lot of winter left, but it was very nice to get out today.
Yesterday I did some scraping of old paint on the back deck and repainted until I ran out of paint. Deck looks better from the road as I did get most of the front-facing wood covered. Also was able to hook up the hose and wash the Honda by hand, have not been able to do that for months. Even fired up the 8N Ford and ran it around the block. Pam opened the kitchen window and back door for a bit and we had fresh air in the house for a while. The dandelion plants are turning green.
I mentioned in my last post that we had cats under the trailer and had plans to remove them. That project appears to have worked and we have closed up the skirting. With the reinforcements we made we hope to avoid a repeat of the tunneling problem. Pam says she has seen all the cats she thought were under the trailer out and about at the garage and back deck feeders.
Those of you who know me well know my mother has never forgiven me for moving away from Wisconsin. In her last letter she reminded me – again – how great my brother is as a son as he stops by often and does maintenance projects around the house. I liked living in Wisconsin but the mountains are my home. Apparently my happiness is not all that important in my mother’s scheme of things…
We figured out our State and Federal taxes. We knew we would get whacked this year as I started getting a retirement annuity from the State of Wisconsin in 2013 (the annuity distribution takes out Federal but not State tax) and I had cashed in a small trust fund that wasn’t taxed. As a result we owe both Federal and Colorado state taxes this year. This was not unforeseen (Pam has been putting funds aside) but it’s irritating to see the final numbers. Since we owe money we won’t actually file until early April. This gives us a couple more months to get the money together before we write the checks.
That’s about it for this past week, and there doesn’t look to be much going on in the upcoming week. Goodbye to the Olympics coverage – have been watching some of it most evenings – although I’m not so thrilled to see all the X-Games events added to the Olympic venues. I still prefer the standards; downhill races, male/female/pairs ice skating events, and ski jumping. Half-pipe and slope-style are not my thing. I’m just a grumpy old man, I guess!
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Two Cents Worth:
Love to see those robins. Bless them. Time to plan the year’s getaways, now that we know our additional tax liability. Potential trips could include: Jer’s cycle getaway in June/July (this year in central Canada, likely to include a Midwest swing), 40th Anniversary trip in August (thinking about Napa Valley, CA), possible road trip in November (to Florida?). Plus all the travel to and from Sanderling during the summer (potential development plans there start in early spring). Busy.
Happy Trails.
Locally, robins are extending their southern vacation and wintering birds have their heavy, winter coats (and boots), as Wisconsin has fallen into its 3rd “deep freeze” of the winter…
It looks like mid-March before (we) will see seasonally average temperatures again, and into April before we can even hope to see robins — unless a 4th deep freeze hits…
Difficult for me to relate to your mother’s “need” for local family, probably because my family has “wanderlust” in almost every branch. Interesting, as your family in the Withee (or Stanley) areas was not even a generation deep when your mother was being raised…
I’m thinking we all have some innate environment where we’re most comfortable, be it mountains or as a “river rate” or deep forests or something else. ‘still haven’t found a method to test the assumption…
Pam has been more comfortable near water. Perhaps we are imprinted early in life? I was born and spent the first couple years in sight of Mt. Shasta in northern California, Pam near the Mississippi.
Ben watching the weather…saw you get hit again with more cold temps. How is the ice on local streams/rivers? Looks like the breakup will cause flooding, at least lower downstream.
We expect more storms but are above sessional norms right now. It does feel nice but I suspect we will pay for it later.
An article published today mentions how ducks are dying, as streams, etc are frozen-over. Local snow cover isn’t all that deep, though it really hasn’t melted since November — packed down.
Much worse up north, as snow cover is deeper and temperatures have been much colder.
I’d think there will be considerable flooding on the Mississippi & Wisconsin rivers, especially if warmer weather hits “at once” rather than a gradual warming.
Wildlife is definitely suffering, especially smaller mammals & all birds — local deer can easily get through the snow, and probably have stripped the trees bare…
A lot of “moderate climate” foliage has been imported with the warming weather — a major die-off is expected…
Looks like (we’re) getting that up-flow through the Bering Straits again — freezing rain in Nome. The East will again be in a deep freeze, weather to your area will be blocked, and rains will cease and the drought will become worse in the west…
I’ve no doubt there’s some early imprinting involved, though I have an “extremely comfortable feeling” from photos & videos around Delphi in Greece — unlike anywhere I’ve ever lived…
‘appears something beyond imprinting and general experience is involved…