Saturday night

We got through the arctic blast and temps are slowly rising. It was 15 below zero here on Friday morning. I feared my southern car would refuse to start in the extreme cold. I got up three times in the night to start it. My children all pitched in and gave me a remote car starter. Boy, did that come in handy. It runs for fifteen minutes then shuts off. I don't know if starting it throughout the night helped but it did start so I could go to work. The remote car starter is a warm loving gift for me who hates getting in a cold car. I start the car about ten minutes before dismissal from inside the schools where I work. It has a 1500' range and is totally secure and dependable. My car warms quickly and since I leave the fan on, the warm air is flowing in when I arrive.

I went to the gym today for a hour and a half. Planned on meeting a former HS classmate for lunch but we didn't connect online as we had planned. We are planning another meeting. It has been 52 years. I am excited.

I received a large package today from my daughter in VA. It was a "winter care kit".
There were puzzles, needlework, books, cookies, cocoa and chocolate. It was very thoughtfully put together from a daughter who knows how difficult it is for me to live in the cold north.

I am posting some photos of the "snow mushrooms" that formed in my yard and in many of the fields around here. The perfect conditions have to exist for the phemnomena to occur. I have only seen them one other time in my youth. They were larger but these ones are about 10" in diameter. Looking across the fields covered with what appears to be the beginnings of snowmen everywhere is very exciting. Now you are probably saying "Poor Donna, she has been out in the cold too long". I just love stuff in nature like this.

We have Monday off and Tuesday I have a doctor's appt. I hope I get to see the inaugeration. I hope you get to see the Highty Tighties playing on the Whitehouse steps. My grandson Travis plays first trumpet. I will be watching for him.

Sebastian is struggling with the cold. His poor feet just cannot take it more than a few scant minutes. I put my socks on him but they wouldn't stay on. Maybe some rubber bands would work. I priced boots for him and at $20 per pair, we have to improvise. Thank God he doesn't need a coat. He can walk on extremely hot black top pavement without complaint and in fact, sometimes lies down on it to sun himself. But 5 minutes on ice and snow in single digit temps and he becomes a cripple. I tried to carry him home but hurt my back. Now I sort of drag him, coax, beg and haul him back to the house. Poor guy! He looks at me like I should be able to fix it. We are planning a week long trip to VA in mid-Feb. I think he will like that.