I just recently watched the movie The Rum Diary based (very loosely) on the book by Hunter Thompson. The book is one of the few books I've read multiple times. I know this movie was in the theater about six months ago, but I don't see many movies in the theater. I'm actually a bit embarrassed to admit the last movie seen on the big screen. I was sitting behind a row of kids (and it wasn't much of a kids movie) with my seat being repeatedly kicked by a child who wanted to go home in a box. I much prefer watching them at home in my own chair where I can pause, review any time I want and for any reason. I guess I miss some of the societal buzz, but whenever I see it, it is new to me. The great thing about the library is that I can get put on the waiting list for a movie and when it is finally available, I get the surprise of seeing it even if it is months later.
I read the book first in 2004. One of the themes of the book not captured by the movie is the overall picture of a man going over the hump; moving to something more stable or at least in a more stable direction for a time. The movie also makes far too much of the environmental disaster in store for Vieques. This plays a role in the book, but not on the scale as in the movie. The most significant disaster of the movie is the writing out of Yeamon and subsequent larger role for Lotterman. Moving from the page to the screen almost always requires making choices, but it shouldn't require mistakes like this. Many other events from the book are also missing and oddly, there are additions that exist nowhere in the movie; the motorcycle with a sidecar? The hallucinogenic drug taking? By being Sanderson's arm candy, Chenault seems more whorish than anything else. In short, I was more disappointed by the movie than anything else. It doesn't even begin to compare to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas which plays fairly close to the book. It is impossible to note this without realizing HST played a role in that movie, but not in The Rum Diary.
I've read most of what Hunter Thompson has written in book form. He is one of the few writers I seek out specifically. His writing style is genius; he wrote a lot about sports which I don't care about as a subject, but his writing kept my attention anyway. His writing on the Rumble in the Jungle was unforgettable, but I guess there was actually very little boxing in it.
Much of his writing skates a grey line between fiction and non-fiction. Even The Rum Diary (the book) is said to be based loosely on his time in Puerto Rico. And, it is yet unapologetically written as fiction. It was also originally written early in his life. One sad truth that is rarely acknowledged is that almost without exception, we all do our best work when we are young. Before a decline in energy, effort in youth is new, less scripted, raw, highly uncensored. This is frequently seen in art. Hunter Thompson, Clive Cussler, Salvador Dali, David Sedaris. Even Albert Einstein's best work was done when he was younger. Grey hairs even when dyed infect the brain. We often pretend this isn't true, but it is.
I'll finish this by quoting the genius of the book not captured in the movie. If there are questions about how the movie compared with the book, this should provide a partial answer. From there, read the rest.
"I left then, and drove back to Jesus Lopo's place. I bought a small bottle of beer for fifteen cents and sat on a bench in the clearing, feeling like an old man. The scene I had witnessed brought back a lot of memories - not of things I had done but of things I failed to do, wasted hours and frustrated moments and opportunities forever lost because time had eaten so much of my life and I would never get it back. I envied Yeamon and felt sorry for myself at the same time, because I had seen him in a moment that made all my happiness seem dull." (HST)
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
How to Make Cheese
I've just made my last batch of cheese for the year. Cheese making is something that I do only in the "poor weather" months in that it is both fun and tedious - there is a lot of waiting around. When the weather is nice in the spring/summer, I don't want to be forced to stay indoors.
Cheese making is pretty easy and relatively cheap to do. If someone were interested in making cheese, I would suggest getting one of the good books out there, learn the basics and then throw them away for a while. While trying to get the "feel" right for the cheese and when to do certain steps, practice is what is needed. Adhering strictly to times/temperatures/ingredients will only lead to frustration. Additionally, most recipes expect a certain ingredient list to be used which may not always be practical. A book is helpful for understanding the theory however.
Equipment: You don't really need much.
Let the mixture sit for around a half an hour to let the bacteria come alive and begin to ripen the milk.
Dilute the rennet in a half cup of water and then add to the milk. Stir vigorously until mixed. LEAVE IT ALONE FOR ONE HOUR!!!! Let the milk set, don't go back and try to remix or check on it.
And, that is it. It really is that easy to make cheese.
I almost gave up on this until I got rid of the recipes and just began to work with it.
Have fun, but remember that there is a time commitment to doing this. So if the weather is nice and you can't stand being inside in the summer, wait for winter.
As for me, I'll get ready to do this again in about seven months.
Cheese making is pretty easy and relatively cheap to do. If someone were interested in making cheese, I would suggest getting one of the good books out there, learn the basics and then throw them away for a while. While trying to get the "feel" right for the cheese and when to do certain steps, practice is what is needed. Adhering strictly to times/temperatures/ingredients will only lead to frustration. Additionally, most recipes expect a certain ingredient list to be used which may not always be practical. A book is helpful for understanding the theory however.
Equipment: You don't really need much.
- Double boiler. Basically two pots, one inside the other.
- Normal knives/spoons/etc. that every kitchen likely has. Also a colander and a couple pans.
- A cheese mold (not the fungus kind) to hold the cheese in a shape while it is being pressed. This can be as simple as two buckets or very elaborate. I've had several generations - and keep changing what I'm using for this.
- Weight for cheese mold. I use old barbel weights. I bought a rather expensive (for what it was) press for cheese, but it did not work as advertised. I still use it as the mold, but use external weights as I believe this is MUCH more consistent.
Ingredients: Most can be bought at the supermarket or are available through a cheese making supply company online:
- Milk. Like many people, I have access to store bought milk (I recently found a source for goats milk - yeah!). Avoid ultra-pasteurized milk.
- Cream. Pump the fat up in the cheese - it is better.
- Bacteria. I have found the thermophillic easier to work with. The direct set powder is cheap enough for what I do with it.
- Rennet. This is the enzyme that sets the milk. I like the calf's rennet - a little goes a long way.
- Cheese cloth. Washing this stuff is a pain so I use the plastic disposable stuff. I think it separates easier from the cheese as well.
- Non-iodized salt. You need salt and iodine adds a funny taste.
- Calcium Chloride. This helps set store bought milk.
- Distilled water to dilute the rennet - chlorine kills rennet.
Notice I do not list amounts of any of the above. I make one gallon's milk worth of cheese at a time. Follow the instructions that come with your cheese-specific ingredients (bacteria, rennet, etc.) as to how much to use. I find that adding about double the rennet required helps set store bought milk.
Before starting, clean and sanitize the area. Since the cheese will be air dried for a time, you want to be reasonably sure that nothing else will be growing on it. Rinse everything a lot before starting.
Mix milk, cream calcium chloride and thermophillic bacteria in a double boiler. Heat to 90F.
Dilute the rennet in a half cup of water and then add to the milk. Stir vigorously until mixed. LEAVE IT ALONE FOR ONE HOUR!!!! Let the milk set, don't go back and try to remix or check on it.
Use a long knife to cut the curd into strips in a "cross-hatch" pattern. VERY SLOWLY heat the curd to 110F. This should take about a half an hour. Stir very gently only occasionally as it comes up to temperature.
Cook the curd at 110F for about an hour. Stir very gently a couple times during this time. You now should have curd chunks floating in some odd-looking liquid.
Strain the cheese curds to get rid of the whey. I've never had much luck saving the whey from store-bought milk for anything. Drain for a few minutes, but don't let the curd cool too much at this point.
Dump the curds back into your pot and add a heavy tablespoon of salt. Stir the curds and put the cheese cloth into the mold. Spoon and pour the curd into the mold. Do this in the sink since whey will continue to be expelled, especially after the addition of the salt.
Now use weights to press the curd. The point of this is to press out the liquid to leave solid cheese. Start with a little weight.
Flip the cheese and add weight a few times over the course of a couple days. I like the final weight to be about 30 pounds for about one and a half days.
After a couple days of pressing, remove the cheese from the mold and take off the cheese cloth. If the cheese is rock hard, it was pressed too much. If it is still sloppy, it wasn't pressed enough (or possibly wasn't cooked long enough in the pot).
After the cheese has been taken from the cheese cloth, salt the outside of it with non-iodized salt and let air dry for a few days. Flip the cheese every other day to help it dry evenly. Once the cheese starts to harden on the edges, it can be eaten, or waxed for aging. Use a cheese wax as it is easy to remove to eat it. It will age very slowly at refrigerator temperatures.
I almost gave up on this until I got rid of the recipes and just began to work with it.
Have fun, but remember that there is a time commitment to doing this. So if the weather is nice and you can't stand being inside in the summer, wait for winter.
As for me, I'll get ready to do this again in about seven months.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Ten Days
By company rules I have to use last years vacation by the end of April. I have six days left which means ten days off in a row. It isn't atypical to have a few days off at the end of April, but this many is too many. I'm not complaining about the vacation and I need the time off, but the vacation now is a result of improper use of one of the most valuable commodities I have; time, vacation.
I'm looking forward to the time off and have some stuff to do around the house. I'm glad I won't have to be at work for over a week and deal with the idiot consultants. I'm worried what the idiot consultants will do in my absence. What is the goal of a successful consultant? The next client. Short term wins to show management at the expense of long term sustainability. Ugh - But enough about work, I've got ten days to not think about this.
Several previous years when I've had a few days at the end of April, I'd go on a short trip somewhere. I might try to do that, but I'm not really sure where this year. The the distressing things about this is it points to poor use of my vacation last year. This is partially the result of selling the house last year and the complication it brought. Ten years ago, I felt sorry for people who couldn't use all their vacation. I do have to be honest with myself and say that I have been feeling a little morose about the situation.
A previous boss once said that time is like your virginity. Once it is gone, it is gone. A different previous boss once commented on seeing a group of young men hanging out in front of the store across the street all day how he wished he could buy their time, since it was being squandered.
So this time isn't going to be wasted, just used differently. Here's hoping for a few nice days. A few things completed around the house and a few new ideas. Time for reflection and anticipation in the same breath.
And, some time to look forward to (and maybe plan for) the next real vacation!
I'm looking forward to the time off and have some stuff to do around the house. I'm glad I won't have to be at work for over a week and deal with the idiot consultants. I'm worried what the idiot consultants will do in my absence. What is the goal of a successful consultant? The next client. Short term wins to show management at the expense of long term sustainability. Ugh - But enough about work, I've got ten days to not think about this.
Several previous years when I've had a few days at the end of April, I'd go on a short trip somewhere. I might try to do that, but I'm not really sure where this year. The the distressing things about this is it points to poor use of my vacation last year. This is partially the result of selling the house last year and the complication it brought. Ten years ago, I felt sorry for people who couldn't use all their vacation. I do have to be honest with myself and say that I have been feeling a little morose about the situation.
A previous boss once said that time is like your virginity. Once it is gone, it is gone. A different previous boss once commented on seeing a group of young men hanging out in front of the store across the street all day how he wished he could buy their time, since it was being squandered.
So this time isn't going to be wasted, just used differently. Here's hoping for a few nice days. A few things completed around the house and a few new ideas. Time for reflection and anticipation in the same breath.
And, some time to look forward to (and maybe plan for) the next real vacation!
Saturday, April 7, 2012
10 Years of Walking Dogs
I recently realized that it was about ten years ago that I started walking one of my dogs almost once a day. There were a number of small reasons I started doing this, but it quickly became one of the most enjoyable parts of my day. It has remained a very important and fun thing to do.
My walks started out modest at best, but pretty quickly grew to a minimum of about 3 miles and often twice that many. When the worst of the weather hits, it might not happen or if I get home from work very late, but it is rare that I don't at least get out for a short walk. Back of the envelope calculations suggest that I've walked approximately 12000 miles in this time (3.5+ miles x 6.5+ days a week, 50 weeks a year) and this is actually pretty conservative. This is the equivalent of walking to Australia or to and from Tierra del Fuego.
I've thought about taking up bike riding on occasion but bikes can be really annoying on some of the narrow roads around where I live. I'd miss the slower pace...and the dogs. I've never considered running, since I've never seen a jogger smiling. Walking a fast pace is good low impact exercise. More important, it is a contemplative time to reflect and unwind. Many of life's (and work) problems have been put into perspective or even solved on a long walk. When I can't walk for one reason or another, I miss the mental health it helps with.
The dogs absolutely love the walks as well. This is good because a fat ugly old man walking down a rural road is creepy. A man walking a dog is quaint. Sometimes, the dogs are tangential to the need to get out for a while however. The dogs have changed over the last ten years. Ten years ago it Sammy, Dixie and Soda. Jackson joined soon afterwards. Sammy and Dixie are walking elsewhere, but Fairbanks is now part of the paw pad crew. Spring and fall walks are always the longest - and sometimes there are multiple walks in a day. Winter can be brutal and the dogs often resist on broiling humid days in the summer, preferring a shady spot to any physical movement at all. At times, they give up mid walk, sometimes a long distance from home. We always get home; I do worry about the older ones in the summer and they only walk for short distances.
Since moving, I can no longer walk through the nature preserve near the old house. I do miss that, as it was always an interesting place to walk through. Driving there, or anywhere now to walk would just be completely wrong. I continue to be fascinated by amphibians and other things in the water areas as I walk. At times, I've seen what seems like just about every type of native animal to where I live.
Ten years and counting. I hope I'll be able to walk back from Australia some day - at least figuratively. I think I'll start on that now.
My walks started out modest at best, but pretty quickly grew to a minimum of about 3 miles and often twice that many. When the worst of the weather hits, it might not happen or if I get home from work very late, but it is rare that I don't at least get out for a short walk. Back of the envelope calculations suggest that I've walked approximately 12000 miles in this time (3.5+ miles x 6.5+ days a week, 50 weeks a year) and this is actually pretty conservative. This is the equivalent of walking to Australia or to and from Tierra del Fuego.
I've thought about taking up bike riding on occasion but bikes can be really annoying on some of the narrow roads around where I live. I'd miss the slower pace...and the dogs. I've never considered running, since I've never seen a jogger smiling. Walking a fast pace is good low impact exercise. More important, it is a contemplative time to reflect and unwind. Many of life's (and work) problems have been put into perspective or even solved on a long walk. When I can't walk for one reason or another, I miss the mental health it helps with.
The dogs absolutely love the walks as well. This is good because a fat ugly old man walking down a rural road is creepy. A man walking a dog is quaint. Sometimes, the dogs are tangential to the need to get out for a while however. The dogs have changed over the last ten years. Ten years ago it Sammy, Dixie and Soda. Jackson joined soon afterwards. Sammy and Dixie are walking elsewhere, but Fairbanks is now part of the paw pad crew. Spring and fall walks are always the longest - and sometimes there are multiple walks in a day. Winter can be brutal and the dogs often resist on broiling humid days in the summer, preferring a shady spot to any physical movement at all. At times, they give up mid walk, sometimes a long distance from home. We always get home; I do worry about the older ones in the summer and they only walk for short distances.
Since moving, I can no longer walk through the nature preserve near the old house. I do miss that, as it was always an interesting place to walk through. Driving there, or anywhere now to walk would just be completely wrong. I continue to be fascinated by amphibians and other things in the water areas as I walk. At times, I've seen what seems like just about every type of native animal to where I live.
Ten years and counting. I hope I'll be able to walk back from Australia some day - at least figuratively. I think I'll start on that now.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Six Month Review
I've been writing this now for about six months. In the corporate world where I work, this would be the appropriate time for a review. This is not the corporate world, but it is time for a review.
Predictably, the amount of these posts that have been viewed is pretty paltry. That is fine, this is more for me and my alias than anyone else. Some of the posts have been pretty lame, but I've yet to see a blog where that isn't the case. At least I recognize it. Happily, I've avoided politics to a large extent. While I used to have a real interest in politics and still follow pretty closely what is going on, the topic is too mundane. My interest is more in the humor and hypocritical behavior and "both sides" as my personal leanings are far right on some issues, far left on others. With that, I would love to see a presidential race between Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich. The country would be better served by a race between John Breaux and Bill Richardson.
What has been surprising over the last six months has been how difficult it was on some days (weeks) to find something that I want to pen. There is always something going on, but mundane chores and work consume most of my (and likely our) lives. As this has gone on, I wonder how difficult it is for Leonard Pitts to find something to write about for every column. He writes politics though, which is cheating...and fleeting.
When I started writing this, my mind was consumed with the events surrounding the sale of the old house. It has been surprising how much that has had a continued affect. The liberation of selling it has allowed significantly more enjoyment of the new house and life in general, even though most of the improvements I may do are pretty low priority right now. I would never have expected simply moving a few miles could have this significant effect on my general outlook for life. Work is overall the least enjoyable it has been with too much work, too much responsibility and a lack of resources. We are nearly half way through a multi-week project with these idiot consultants. I have never had so little respect for people in that field as I do right now. There is just a total lack of understanding of the reality we work in every day.
What I have liked writing about the most, is things currently happening, and how they relate and remind me of things from my past. There are a few posts in the near future I'm already mentally writing that I am looking forward to.
For now, I'm going to continue to try to write about once a week. I saw a news story on TV a while ago where research was done on writing within the US public. Without remembering specifics, a huge percentage of the population said they had a book they wanted to write, while only a very small amount actually do. I would add, or can. Having a story, or something to say is easy. Every toddler has a story. Forming words in a way that others want to read is a gift and a skill. I claim neither, but practice make habit (practice almost never makes perfect, and only rarely improvement). I can only hope that habit makes better.
Predictably, the amount of these posts that have been viewed is pretty paltry. That is fine, this is more for me and my alias than anyone else. Some of the posts have been pretty lame, but I've yet to see a blog where that isn't the case. At least I recognize it. Happily, I've avoided politics to a large extent. While I used to have a real interest in politics and still follow pretty closely what is going on, the topic is too mundane. My interest is more in the humor and hypocritical behavior and "both sides" as my personal leanings are far right on some issues, far left on others. With that, I would love to see a presidential race between Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich. The country would be better served by a race between John Breaux and Bill Richardson.
What has been surprising over the last six months has been how difficult it was on some days (weeks) to find something that I want to pen. There is always something going on, but mundane chores and work consume most of my (and likely our) lives. As this has gone on, I wonder how difficult it is for Leonard Pitts to find something to write about for every column. He writes politics though, which is cheating...and fleeting.
When I started writing this, my mind was consumed with the events surrounding the sale of the old house. It has been surprising how much that has had a continued affect. The liberation of selling it has allowed significantly more enjoyment of the new house and life in general, even though most of the improvements I may do are pretty low priority right now. I would never have expected simply moving a few miles could have this significant effect on my general outlook for life. Work is overall the least enjoyable it has been with too much work, too much responsibility and a lack of resources. We are nearly half way through a multi-week project with these idiot consultants. I have never had so little respect for people in that field as I do right now. There is just a total lack of understanding of the reality we work in every day.
What I have liked writing about the most, is things currently happening, and how they relate and remind me of things from my past. There are a few posts in the near future I'm already mentally writing that I am looking forward to.
For now, I'm going to continue to try to write about once a week. I saw a news story on TV a while ago where research was done on writing within the US public. Without remembering specifics, a huge percentage of the population said they had a book they wanted to write, while only a very small amount actually do. I would add, or can. Having a story, or something to say is easy. Every toddler has a story. Forming words in a way that others want to read is a gift and a skill. I claim neither, but practice make habit (practice almost never makes perfect, and only rarely improvement). I can only hope that habit makes better.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Potato Chips
A first test of the new health care federal law (Obamacare) is headed to the Supreme Court this week. The focus seems to be the "individual mandate" part of the law. The argument for this, seems largely to be that the law won't work without it. That is hardly constitutional justification. The argument against is much stronger. If you want to breath in the country, you must buy this product from a private company. Pretty bold. A person can live a modern nomadic lifestyle in the barter and cash economy and pay only a small amount of taxes to the various governments in trade for some of the service they provide, but if you want to live, you must buy insurance.
There are a lot of red herrings on both sides of this. Most (~75%) of us have insurance of some kind already. The rest get care, although possibly not as good and it isn't free, the rest of us are already paying for it. Very few people are being harmed by an individual mandate, but that isn't the point. I'm a little skeptical that the care available to the poor will be much better than their current options. The Obama administration should have stuck to their guns and gone for the single payer option. It never would have passed, but at least the argument would have been principle-based. And, if/when it passes, the inefficient system being put in place would be replaced by a bureaucracy - at least that is an uncomfortable known. Perhaps a better compromise would have been a single payer minimalist system with employer based coverage above this - sort of like codifying the previous poor arrangement.
Somewhere in here it also only seems right to provide at least some protection from truly frivolous lawsuits. Mistakes will happen and doctors need to be accountable to a different level than mailmen but doctors are human. There might be some malpractice lawyers who are as well.
The largest most bone-headed part of the law is the requirement that kids MUST be allowed on parent's insurance up to the age of 26. This is horrible. This is approximately 1/3 of a person's life. Cut the umbilical chord already. A person is old enough to vote at age 18, and be put to death by the state. Old enough to drink themselves into oblivion by 21, but still tied to parents. When will we see a federal mandate to grow up already.
If you are going to live, you must buy this product from a private company. And, that company must provide it to your offspring for a third of their life. Does the single payer system sound worse?
So why is this post called "Potato Chips?" Food has strong influence on our health. I'm sitting here eating potato chips while I type this. This has been a poor food week overall with an offsite training for work on three days. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but the stuffed cookies, blondies and cheese cake at 2:00 in the afternoon was too good to pass up.
Oh well, I have health insurance.
There are a lot of red herrings on both sides of this. Most (~75%) of us have insurance of some kind already. The rest get care, although possibly not as good and it isn't free, the rest of us are already paying for it. Very few people are being harmed by an individual mandate, but that isn't the point. I'm a little skeptical that the care available to the poor will be much better than their current options. The Obama administration should have stuck to their guns and gone for the single payer option. It never would have passed, but at least the argument would have been principle-based. And, if/when it passes, the inefficient system being put in place would be replaced by a bureaucracy - at least that is an uncomfortable known. Perhaps a better compromise would have been a single payer minimalist system with employer based coverage above this - sort of like codifying the previous poor arrangement.
Somewhere in here it also only seems right to provide at least some protection from truly frivolous lawsuits. Mistakes will happen and doctors need to be accountable to a different level than mailmen but doctors are human. There might be some malpractice lawyers who are as well.
The largest most bone-headed part of the law is the requirement that kids MUST be allowed on parent's insurance up to the age of 26. This is horrible. This is approximately 1/3 of a person's life. Cut the umbilical chord already. A person is old enough to vote at age 18, and be put to death by the state. Old enough to drink themselves into oblivion by 21, but still tied to parents. When will we see a federal mandate to grow up already.
If you are going to live, you must buy this product from a private company. And, that company must provide it to your offspring for a third of their life. Does the single payer system sound worse?
So why is this post called "Potato Chips?" Food has strong influence on our health. I'm sitting here eating potato chips while I type this. This has been a poor food week overall with an offsite training for work on three days. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but the stuffed cookies, blondies and cheese cake at 2:00 in the afternoon was too good to pass up.
Oh well, I have health insurance.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Late Winter to Late Spring
A few weeks ago, I was complaining about this time of year. Nothing going on, weather teasers, etc.
What a difference a few weeks makes. This past week has been nothing but unusually warm weather and decent motorcycle weather - which means great motorcycling weather for March.
Temps in the mornings have been in the 50s (or higher). Temps in the afternoons have been in the upper 70s to near 80. This is unusual, or at least it feels that way. Trees are budding, and grass is growing. If the forecasts are correct and this continues, there will be mowing needed by as early as next week.
This is a huge change from last year. Last year at this time, the weather was cold with an overwhelming amount of rain. We were trying to sell the old house at the time with the basement going from spring damp to wet. Our Realtor assured us that with the type of basement it was, it was not a big concern. She was right, of course, but it wasn't helping. At least not mentally.
The difference highlights that this is a new year, and right now it is hard to not be somewhat optimistic about it. There is a touch of grey to this silver lining however. The next hard frost can almost be counted on since it is still March. What will happen to the budding and flowering trees then.
For now, I'll enjoy the weather and the pessimism that spring is just started.
What a difference a few weeks makes. This past week has been nothing but unusually warm weather and decent motorcycle weather - which means great motorcycling weather for March.
Temps in the mornings have been in the 50s (or higher). Temps in the afternoons have been in the upper 70s to near 80. This is unusual, or at least it feels that way. Trees are budding, and grass is growing. If the forecasts are correct and this continues, there will be mowing needed by as early as next week.
This is a huge change from last year. Last year at this time, the weather was cold with an overwhelming amount of rain. We were trying to sell the old house at the time with the basement going from spring damp to wet. Our Realtor assured us that with the type of basement it was, it was not a big concern. She was right, of course, but it wasn't helping. At least not mentally.
The difference highlights that this is a new year, and right now it is hard to not be somewhat optimistic about it. There is a touch of grey to this silver lining however. The next hard frost can almost be counted on since it is still March. What will happen to the budding and flowering trees then.
For now, I'll enjoy the weather and the pessimism that spring is just started.
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