It was still dark when I got up this morning and it was rather cold for this time of year. There was a new covering of snow though not so much, only about 2 inches, and it was a light fluffy type of snow.  And it was clear, the stars were still shining brightly.  And it was cold.  But at least there was no wind, so the day shouldn’t be too bad.  I could hardly believe we would be going out on a day like this.  Even harder to believe that I would agree to such a thing, a brief lapse in sanity I suppose.  But it was what it was, and it certainly was cold.  Or did I mention that already?  Hmm, the fire was crackling nicely in the antique cook stove in the kitchen.  Sounded so nice.  Felt even nicer.  Maybe we should wait for a warmer day, I suggested.  Nonsense, it’s a perfect day, said dad.  Not too cold, no wind, and that pond should be nicely frozen by now, he continued.  If the pond is frozen so well, how do we get at the insulators?, I asked.  Those cross arms were sticking up high enough that we should be able to pull them out quite easily, said dad.  And, of course, I will bring the axe just in case we need to chop a bit of ice, he added.  With us standing on that same ice?, I asked again.  Nothing to worry about, said dad.  Odd.  Whenever I said something like that, dad always said it made him worry even more.  Oh well, at least we were warm when we left.  And it was now light, though the sun had not yet risen.  It did look like a nice day.  It would have looked even nicer from indoors by that roaring fire and drinking a nice hot cup of COFFEE.  Sigh.  We had a bit of a drive to get to this fantastic spot, which is why we left so early.  Of course the little road we wanted to go on had not been plowed since winter arrived and the snow was just too deep to drive through, so… Oh well, a little extra walking isn’t so bad.  The snow had drifted on that first part of the road so it was a bit more than knee deep, not exactly easy walking.  Dad went first on this part since he was the bigger of the two of us.  Snowshoes would have been easier for this part, I said.  Actually, I had mentioned this before we left home.  Forget it, said dad, this isn’t so bad and it will get better soon.  Right, I thought.  Dad was remembering the last time out on snowshoes.  He didn’t fare so well and ended up tripping because he stepped on one of the snowshoes and found himself face down in the snow.  And he couldn’t get up.  It was one of those moments I wish I had a camera with me.  Poor dad.  I just stood there laughing so hard I could barely stand up.  And trying to help dad get up just made things so much more humorous.  Strangely, dad couldn’t see the humor in it at all. BONEHEAD!, was all he could say.  Several times in fact.  Very odd that he could be enjoying himself and yet not laugh about it.  Oh well.  Anyway, once we made it to the trees the snow was not so deep so walking was much easier, and faster.  Finally, after what seemed like hours, we made it to the pond along the railway tracks.  Hmm, looks smaller now for some reason.  And there they were, sticking out of the ice and snow, three groups of crossarms, and full of insulators in a rainbow of colors!  Well, okay, various shades of green and aqua.  But it’s what may lay hidden under the ice that makes it more interesting.  You go out first, said dad.  Me?!  Why me?  Because you’re the lightest, said dad, and I went first through all that deep snow.  Naturally.  I knew there had to be a reason why he volunteered to go first through the snow.  So…out I went.  Slowly.  Carefully. And cowardly.  Sigh.  I made it to the first group of crossarms.  It was easy to remove the insulators, but they were frozen solidly into the ice.  Can’t budge them, I called back.  Lean right against them and push with your whole body, yelled dad.  Sure.  Easy for him to say from the safety of dry land.  They still wouldn’t move.  Still can’t budge them, I called back again.  Dad just shook his head and started out across the ice.  Suddenly there was a very loud crack!  Dad and I both froze.  He was only about 4 feet from me by this time.  This was not looking good.  It is dark.  And there is some light snow falling.  I should go check and see if my newspaper has arrived yet.  It’s late again this week.  Not to worry, I will finish this story next week.  Providing my computer is still working.  Definitely having some problems today.  Sigh.  I will also be adding some new pics to my gallery tomorrow.  So please check them out.  Strange things happen to me sometimes, but that will have to wait for another time, my computer is acting up again and I want to finish this while I can.  Enjoy your weekend and God bless!

Steve and Muffin (who is sleeping and snoring at the moment).

Good morning to all my faithful readers, that means all 5 of you, on this rather frosty, snowy, windy, snowy, cold, snowy winter morning and of course this is my first ‘Musings’ of December which of course is the last month of the year and the last of other things as well which you probably guessed from my title this week.  Last week was one of those weeks.  I get those kind of weeks sometimes.  I often get one of those days but now one of those weeks is getting to be quite regular as well which is not really an enjoyable thought but nonetheless it does happen which is why there was no ‘Musings’ last week and I don’t know if I will even refer to them as ‘Musings’ anymore which will make it another one of those last things which I referred to and… Sigh. I think I must be getting old.  Or something.  First I lost my address.  Or I should say the post office lost my address and started sending my mail back to the sender.  Not very nice.  Sigh.  But after numerous phone calls and talking to more than one person on the matter it seems to be fixed now.  They found my address again.  My mail is arriving on time again.  Then the town by law officer shows up.  Seems my neighbor doesn’t like the fact I am feeding birds.  Amazing.  There is a law against feeding birds?  No.  But there is a bylaw stating that a bird feeder must be 10 feet off the ground.  Or deck, in my case.  How am I supposed to put food on such a feeder?  A ladder.  A ladder?  Outside?  In the winter?  So it was either comply with the bylaw or stop feeding birds.  Amazing.  There are bird feeders all over town that are not 10 feet high.  Apparently though only enforce the bylaw if someone complains.  Amazing.  That sounds rather discriminatory to me.  So down came the bird feeder.  However, I don’t like to give up so easily.  So I tried building a feeder that would comply.  However, getting food on the feeder was just too much of a problem, plus, of course clearing snow off the feeder whenever it snows.  Which has been quite often so far this winter. So I have decided to give up. I have been feeding birds since 1974.  The end of an era.  Terrible thought.  Right now there are dozens of birds sitting outside my window looking for food.  Almost worth the risk of going to jail.  Which is where I would end up.  Sigh.  Imagine, going to jail for feeding the birds.  This is Canada.  I won’t bother mentioning where I live, since some of you already know I live in Kenora.  Speaking of snow.  We had a storm yesterday and overnight.  It snowed.  Quite a bit.  Not sure how much.  At least a foot or more.  And it was windy, still is windy.  I had some trouble opening my door this morning since the snow had drifted in quite solidly against the door and right across the deck.  So there was nowhere to push the snow to open the door.  Sigh.  I did get out.  Barely.  Since it is my only door I wanted to get it open as quickly as possible.  I don’t like having my only exit blocked.  Kind of makes me nervous.  Especially if something happens and I need to leave in a hurry.  The thought of jumping out a window is not really a fun idea.  Although with all this new snow it would be a softer landing.  I still prefer the door.  Speaking of country.  Some have asked why I call this Steve’s Country Musings when I don’t usually talk much about country things. Mainly because I like country things, country living (even though I can no longer live in the country due to my health), country furniture, country collecting, country pictures.  Country to me is much better than city.  Or a town for that matter.  This is a town that calls itself a city.  A very small city.  But large enough to be called a city amazingly.  And I do talk about country things sometimes.  Like the exploits with my dad.  Definitely country.  However, that might be one of the changes coming up.  There are changes coming.  Though some things won’t.  After all, where else can you find something so wacky as this?  And in the winter this is just the kind of thing you need!  Wheehee!  Or something.  I think CABIN FEVER has taken hold already.  And winter has only been here for 5 weeks so far.  5 WEEKS!  It’s enough to make a person jump up and down, pull their hair, bang their head against the wall, roll on the floor (what do you expect after banging your head against the wall?), and, and…AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It’s okay.  I’m fine.  I’m calm.  Speaking of technology.  That is definitely not country.  But it is something.  Now if it would just work properly.  Or at least work.  Sigh.  I think it must be me.  No one else has the problems with technology that I have with technology and that’s because technology does not like me!!  And it knows when it’s me.  It must.  Why else would all these weird things happen to me and no one else?  Why?  Sigh.  I’m not going there today.  It’s cold.  And I need to shovel snow.  Even though my doctor told me not too.  That one made me laugh.  If I’m not going to shovel snow then I need to live in Hawaii.  Which is a very nice thought.  Sigh.  So much for today.  Back outside, then back inside to enjoy a nice cup of hot COFFEE!! The only good thing about this kind of weather.  Sigh.  I hope you can all enjoy your week and God bless!

Steve. And Muffin who is curled up in her chair which is what I should be doing.  Sigh.  Muffin doesn’t like winter any more than I do.  So we eat, sleep and drink COFFEE!