Make it stop...

 

When I got up this morning, it was 23º.  That is lower than I've ever seen here.  Add in the howling wind, and our "feels like" temperature is 8º.  Single freakin' digit.  

 

The rain and drizzle stopped overnight.  No idea what the roads are like (and there's nothing I need to go outside for); when we opened the blinds this morning, there is ice on top of the table cover we have over the patio furniture.  Joan put a couple bricks on top of that cover to keep it from puffing up and getting ripped in the wind.  We put down a couple of our hurricane shutters on the windward side of the house.  The furnace is running, the electric fireplace is on, and I have a blanket over my lap.  Joan is in the kitchen, making muffins for breakfast.  The power stayed on overnight.  TXDOT is recommending no travel due to potential ice on the roads.

I don't think I'll go for a bicycle ride this morning.  Rufus is laying on my blanket, on my feet.  It may have been a three-dog-night, but it seems to be a one-big-furry-cat morning.

Joan is planning ahead: people in the village are reporting no water (likely frozen water lines - we let a faucet trickle overnight) and power outages in the area.  Joan ran water into pans and has a tea kettle going on the stove... just in case.

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We aren't going outside, but life goes on.  This morning, I played some music while Rufus got brushed...

It cracks me up that Rufus lets Joan hold him by the face like that with no fussing.  I showed that photo to Steph; she said, "She used that same approach when she brushed my hair, too!  JK"  You can throw
JK" in there, but you're still in trouble.  Then she said something about me being an instigator.  That's a big word; I think she meant smart.  Or cute.

Joan is making bread and frying up some chicken for a chicken-bacon-ranch sandwich for lunch.  Ruf and I retired to the music room...

2:40 pm, the sun is shining through a mostly cloudy sky.  The temperature isn't rising much: 28º according to the Weather Channel, 30º according to our weather station on our deck.  The Weather Channel is now predicting 36º as an overnight low... I sure hope so... we still have water trickling.

Just saw on the local news station: yep, this broke historical records for the low temperatures all over the Valley, including here.  So, that's fun.  Not.

 

And the beat goes on...

 

And by "beat," I mean this lengthy norther.  It was 38º when I got up this morning... it is up to 36º two hours later.  Seems to be going the wrong direction.

We went out to the coach to dump the fresh water in the tank earlier this week.  Emptied the water heater.  No way to blow out the lines.  The forecast was only a couple hours below 32º in Harlingen (near where our motorhome is stored).  Now, the weather weasels are predicting 12 hours or more of temperatures into the 20s.  For three out of the next 5 days.

I suggested we make another trip to the storage unit and put the trouble light under the coach - the heat of that light bulb should keep things warm enough to not freeze.  Joan said, "You won't be able to do that in the future... bulbs are now LEDs and don't give off any heat."  Good point.  I sure hope that bulb in the trouble light is still functioning.  Ah, the modern world.

This cold has been with us for days.  Looks to be another week or so of this.  This is longer than I remember any time in the past of cold hanging on this long.  Joan told me she isn't feeling any cabin fever... that makes one of us.  Yesterday when I went outside to check out our circuit breaker box is the only time I've been outside in a couple days... and it wasn't by choice.  And for less than 2 minutes.

It's Valentines Day.  I have warmth in my heart.  It is also the day we determined it would be Rufus's birthday.  Although we now think he is 4 to 5 years old, rather than the 6 to 7 based on that first vet's estimate.  He definitely warms our hearts.

Happy Birthday, Rufus!

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This is getting serious...

Getting dressed for heading to the storage unit, we both put on fleece-lined pants.  Joan wears hers occasionally, especially if we're riding the scoots in cooler weather.  I haven't had mine on since we were working in Friday Harbor - note the khakis...

This is why...

Yeah, 5 different "warnings" for this current weather.

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On tonight's local news: every county in Texas (254 counties) is under a winter storm warning tonight through Tuesday morning.  Below freezing here tonight.

Here we go again...

 

If you said, "Dolly Parton, 1977," you were close: that song was Here We Come Again.  But, if you said, "Ray Charles, 1967," you get 25 bonus points, and your cool factor went up 30%.  If you said, "Demi Lovato, 2009," you are way more with it than I am.

Around 1:00 pm, the power went out again.  Yes, it is still blowing like stink and cold (40º, according to our weather station, before it went out).  Perhaps this is the new standard?  Our board of directors in the village is trying to push through an infrastructure proposal for ten million dollars... and new electrical is part of that.  Now, I'm not suggesting there is some sort of plot afoot... we've been around here long enough to know that anything usual for weather seems to affect our apparently fragile power grid.

Joan had started lunch... it was going to be hotdogs with chili.  Now, it is just chili.  It hits the spot on a cold winter day.

There were no power outages reported when looking online (laptop and my phone as a hotspot), so I went out to check our circuit box - all normal.  When I got back in, multiple outages are being reported on our island and in Port Isabel.  Estimated "restoration time": 5:00 pm.  We were in the middle of a Longmire episode on NetFlicks.  Joan just suggested that it might be a good time to take a nap; I'm not sleepy - I want to see what Walt and Vic are up to next on Longmire.  ;-)

Looks like a good time to get an acoustic guitar out.

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Well, that was unusual: something getting done ahead of time here... power was back on in an hour or so.  And now, back to Longmire.  'Cause I have no intention of going outside.  Never got above 41º today.  Wind and rain.  A "Gale Watch" is in effect: winds 20 to 30mph, gusts above 40.  So, that's fun.

 

 

 

 

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

 

If you said, "Baby, It's Cold Outside is a popular song written by Frank Loesser in 1944 and introduced to the public in the 1949 film Neptune's Daughter. While the lyrics make no mention of a holiday, it is popularly regarded as a Christmas song owing to its winter theme. The song was released in eight recordings in 1949 and has been covered numerous times since," you used Google and get NO bonus points. 

If you said, "How's the weather in the Tropical Tip this morning?" you can bite me.  Oh, it isn't the bitter below zero that the northern states are getting, but it is damn cold for us.  It was 40º when I got up this morning, with a "feels like" temperature of 30º.  Yes, we do generally get one cold spell like this each winter, but we are usually in Arizona... where the nights are almost always cold in the winter.

Probably wouldn't feel as cold, but with the wind and thunderstorms overnight, it was inevitable that our power was going to go out.  It did.  Around 3:30.  I'm guessing at the time because I couldn't see anything but darkness.  The ceiling fans stopped.  I plugged in our electric blanket last night, and the gentle glow from each controller (yes, we had them turned on) went dark.  Rufus came up from his cozy spot at the foot of the bed and said, "Dad!  It's dark in here.  I don't think it's supposed to be this dark."

"Yes, Ruf, the power is out.  It's OK."

"But, Dad, the bed isn't warm anymore, and it's really, really dark in here.  Should we wake up Mom?  She'll know what to do."

"No, just snuggle in and I'll keep you warm."

"But, it's really dark and that ain't right."

"Shhhhh - go back to sleep."

He snuggled in by Joan; apparently, she is warmer than I am.  Plus, she slept through all the thunder, lightning, wind, and rain.  And, the really, really dark.

I laid there awake... thinking what I'd do when it's time to get up and we have no power.  No lights.  No heat.  OMG, no functioning coffee maker!  I could get the generator out, but we have no gas supply.  And, I would freeze my ass off digging around in the dark in our storage area to find stuff.  Probably better to just lay here, wide awake, and let the evil cold take me.

About 6:00am, the lights in the living room went on - they are all hooked up to Alexa, and when she loses power and comes back on, so do the lights.  The ceiling fan in the bedroom started to turn, the comforting glow of the electric blanket controller on my side lit up.  Ahhh.  If I roll over the other way, the light from the living room won't be shining in my eyes.  I heard the heat come on.  It's all good.

Still cold, windy, and rainy when I got up... and had to reset the clocks on the appliances... after getting Rufus fed.  Secure in the knowledge that the coffee maker would provide hot coffee for Joan and hot chocolate for me.

I think I'm going to need a nap.

No photos - it was dark.

Behind schedule...

 

Not unusual here in the Tropical Tip.  This time, it is Mother Nature - the forecast overnight thunderstorm didn't happen (I don't mind), and when I got up it was 70º.  Local TV weather was showing the cold front just north and west of us, but hadn't reached us yet.  Looks like I have time to get out for a bicycle ride before the front arrives.

It was eerily calm.  Humid.  Overcast.  I took this photo...

 

That is the sun, not the moon.  Within a few seconds of taking that, it disappeared behind the solid overcast.

By 10:15, the wind was changing to the north.  Thunderstorms, with wind and significant rain predicted through the afternoon.  We rolled up the sunscreens on the deck last night; looking at the forecast now, we took down the American flag that normally flies from a post on our deck.

Time to cocoon.

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The weather has turned to crap, but some needed sunshine in my day: the doctor called this afternoon... good news; she said, "No detectable PSA - consider yourself cured.  See you in 4 months for a check-up.  Work on your Kegel exercises and enjoy riding."

 

A Change Is Gonna Come...

 

If you said, "Sam Cooke, 1964," you get 50 bonus points.

This is very different from the meaning of that song: the massive cold front that is impacting much of the country will be making its way to the Tropical Tip over the next few days.  Rain predicted for the next 8 days, with temperatures in the 40s for a high on Monday, a low in the 30s.

Yes, I know this isn't what the rest of the country is getting; it is still 30º colder than normal, so it is an impact for those of us here.  And, inland, where our motorhome is stored, it may get into the 20s on Monday night.

We left water in the fresh water tank, as our "escape pod" after our last use.  We don't want to run heat while the coach is in the storage unit, so we made a trip out there today to dump the fresh water tank and the water lines.

 

Joan swept out the storage unit while I dumped the water heater.  The coach is ready to make it through the cold that is coming.

You wouldn't know there's a change coming - it was 80º while we were out at the storage unit.

Back home, and time to get a ride in, since there won't be any scooting for the next week or so.

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Loud Pipes Save... What?

A neighbor at the end of our street rides a Harley; it's a nice one, a Road Glide.  It isn't quiet.  When I took the Vespa out this afternoon, Jack (the neighbor) had just ridden past our place as I was starting up the Vespa.  I saw that he turned in towards the building where our mailboxes are.  I turned in behind him and pulled up next to his bike... "You damn kids on your loud motor-sickles are annoying those of us with more refined tastes in bikes."

I was wearing a full-face helmet and saw the glare in his eyes as he started to get off his bike.  "Easy there big fella, it's me: Jim, your neighbor."  The glare went away and he started to laugh.  We visited for a while.

He was telling me about a friend of his who has a Vespa... he said, "He's a big guy, about 350 pounds.  He told me his Vespa will go 80 miles per hour and get 80 miles per gallow.  He asked me what my bike gets... I told him, 'Laid.'"

I laughed and said, "I'll have to go with you on that 'cause Joan doesn't let me date... but chicks did the Vespa."  Yes, guy talk.  Doesn't matter how old we get, we're still juvenile.

He went to check mail, I took off for a ride.  Coming back across the causeway, I had perfect timing: went through the stoplight as it turned yellow, which means no wait to get across the other side of Hwy 100.  If you get stopped at that light, it means that you will also get stopped at the light to cross the highway, and it's a long wait there.  I was thinking, "I should go buy a lottery ticket."  Six blocks later as I came up on the swing bridge to get onto our island, the gate stopping traffic was just closing to allow a boat to pass... I guess I will take a pass on that lottery ticket.  ;-)

While I waited for the bridge, I took a couple photos of this good-looking Vespa...

I was feeling the need to get a ride in today.  That crappy weather is coming and it will be around for the next week or so...

Looks like it is going to be a while before I'll be riding again.

Three years ago today...

 

We busted Rufus out of the shelter to bring him to his forever home.  Three years... time flies when you have a great cat.  Rufus quickly became a family member.

I'm sure that first day was a shock to him: a couple takes you out of the enclosure at PetSmart and hugs on you.  Then, they put you in an even smaller cage (carrier).  They take you to a place where a nice lady declares you healthy, and "a hootch."  (The boy does like to snuggle.)  Then, that couple takes you a home on wheels, feeds you, and gives you a bath..,. you really appreciate that bath, because the couple was right: you stink.  Well, stunk.  Then, they introduce you to a leash and tell you, "If you're going to be outside, you have to learn to walk on a leash."  Then, they introduce you to another couple, younger - the female human in that younger couple can't stop hugging you.  It's OK, because you like the snuggles.  Then, they give you a "blanket" (towel) that they tell you is a cat family heirloom, and that is your place on the bed.

After the first good night's sleep in a while, these people feed you hard and soft food and brush you all over.  If this is your new family, you are going to love it... you show your appreciation with head-butts and kitty hugs.  Yep, a big first day.

Facebook reminded me of this auspicious occasion...

 The vet told us he was "full grown"... six months later, he was 50% larger and had blossomed into that handsome long-hair feline you see today.

The boy is family in every way.  

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It was a foggy start to the day this morning, while getting the bike out of our underneath storage...

As thick as it is, it isn't going to dissipate anytime soon.  I dressed for it...

That green will stand out in the fog.  Riding down the Sea Cottage street...

A look down our canal on the way home...

That is our house on the left.  Or, as Rufus puts it: the big house (compared to the motorhome).  We were in the motorhome his first two months.  It's an easy transition for him when we head out in the motorhome.  No, no near term plans for that right now.

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That fog stayed around all day.  I took Joan's Xmax out for a ride this afternoon.  As I rode over the causeway, the rise in elevation at the high part (that allows boat traffic underneath) put into thicker fog.  Still, it was a pleasant ride.  I have only ridden Joan's bike once or twice since I got the new Vespa - these are really very different approaches to the riding experience.  I have fun riding her bike, because it is definitely "sportier;" but the Vespa really is a better fit for me.

I did stop to take a couple photos...