Here I sit.  Inside.  Although it has gotten milder outside winter is still with us.  Therefore sitting outside is not really high on my list of enjoyable activities.  Of course, neither is winter for that matter.  Some people say that winter is a beautiful time of the year.  Snow on the trees, big snowflakes drifting lazily to the ground, the silence, while all the time viewing this scene from indoors since it is usually -30F, or even colder, as the house very loudly cracks, thumps, bangs and all sorts of other noises that can make it hard to sleep since it sounds like the house is about to fall apart and somehow that scene just does not make me think of beautiful but rather something that is more like bone-chilling, nose freezing, ear crackling and fingers falling off kind of a scene and that really does not sit high on my list of enjoyable things or beautiful scenes, or something I just really look forward to every year and speaking of looking forward to winter every year I notice that most of the people who say they really enjoy winter also tend to fly away to some warm spot elsewhere on this planet to get away from all this beauty that they talk about and they often mention how they would like to spend the whole winter in that warm location which is more of my idea of something enjoyable which is why I sit here amidst all this cold bone cracking winter and dream of my favorite place which happens to be Hawaii in case you haven’t guessed that by now if you happen to be a regular reader of these ‘Musings’ and if you are not then I will say it now that Hawaii is definitely my favorite warm place and I just can’t imagine why people want to go anywhere else because really it is impossible to beat the beauty of Hawaii which is why I have a nice picture of Hawaii at the top of my page now in case you haven’t already noticed and another picture here

which I decided to leave large size since it is just such a magnificent photo and Hawaii has amazing and varied scenery which I had not even imagined before and in case you are wondering I have never been to Hawaii at any time but it is definitely a place I would like to visit especially during one of our long cold winters and just enjoy the warmth and tropical beauty of those islands and see first hand all that amazing scenery like this spot

and really now surely you would agree that being at this location would be far more enjoyable than spending 20 minutes getting dressed to go outside in -40F and get in a car that is just as cold even though it has been running for half an hour with the heater going full and then when you actually get the thing in motion it barely wants to move and you hit a patch of ice on the street which sends you uncontrollably into the snow piled beside the street which the grader plowed into position the week before and it is now as hard as a rock so it rips the fender off the car as it makes its way to the top of this wall of snow where it sits at a weird angle making it almost impossible to get out of the car and that is where it stays while you try to get your phone from your pocket with those heavy gloves on and you finally realize you must remove your gloves which then gives you immediate frostbite and your fingers are so stiff it takes you ten minutes to call for help and by that time your ears are so red with cold it takes 3 days for them to return to their normal color and, and…sigh.  Oh well.  It is what it is.  By the way, if weather can be inclement, can it be clement?  Speaking of technology.  Almost as bad as winter.  Anyway, I was on my computer and sorting out my pictures, something that I do periodically, and I was putting some in a new folder.  At the end of it all I looked in the new folder only to find that it was empty.  My pictures had disappeared.  Completely.  Totally.  Gone and nowhere to be found.  Tried everything.  Nothing.  I must admit I found this to be somewhat annoying.  Not to mention all the time I was wasting trying to find something that wasn’t there that was there and then wasn’t there even though it should be there but it wasn’t there and it was enough to make a person jump up and down, pull my hair, bang my head against the wall, roll on the floor moaning and, and, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It’s okay.  I’m fine.  I’m calm.  It’s that CABIN FEVER thing again.  And Muffin is feeling it still too.  I know.  Or at least my feet know.  Sigh.  She wants that door open.  She won today.  For a little while. And there were 2 squirrels out there chasing each other around the deck and in the trees, so Muffin enjoyed herself for a while.  Then I had to close the door.  That wasn’t pretty.  But I should be okay by next week.  Sigh.  I hope you all enjoy the remainder of your week, and God bless!

Steve.  And Muffin.

HAPPY FAMILY DAY!!!  Thought I should say that before I forget.  Okay, I know that many of my readers don’t have Family Day in their part of the world.  But we have it here.  And in many parts of this country.  Though not all.  Some have a different name for today.  But here it is Family Day.  So I can hardly say anything different.  So what does that have to do with my title?  Nothing.  But that’s not the point.  And, of course, by the time some of you read this it won’t even be Family Day.  So why even say it?  Because today is Family Day.  Be glad it’s not Valentine’s Day.  I think this is the first year I have not given my yearly rant about my most unfavorite day of the year.  Okay, I know that’s not really a word.  In most dictionaries.  But it is in my dictionary.  And what dictionary is that?  Steve’s Dictionary of Weird, Wild and Wacky Words, Whimsical Sayings and Wonderful Phrases.  Unfavorite is in the Wild section.  Just in case you were wondering.  Or not.  It is still winter.  And it is still cold.  Very cold.  We did get one milder day last week.  Then back to cold.  Very cold.  But it is still winter.  For a long time yet.  Seems like it has always been here.  Hard to even remember last summer.  Seems like such a long time ago.  And it is really.  Sigh.  Cold weather is a good time for drinking COFFEE!  No better way to start a cold winter’s day.  And also to end a cold winter’s day.  And all the hours in between.  Wheehee!!  Sigh.  But my favorite cold time beverage is on the way out.  Can you imagine that?  No more COFFEE?!  That is just unthinkable.  Except now.  My doctor asked if I drink a lot of COFFEE.  Define, ‘a lot’, I said.  More than one and a half cups, said my doctor.  That is definitely not a lot, said I.  My doctor said to make it none after finding out how much I drink.  Can you just imagine that?  None.  As in not one cup of COFFEE a day.  Nothing.  Zip.  My doctor must be joking.  But it’s no joke.  Especially to me.  This is serious.  My doctor asks, ‘do you mean you can’t quit?’  I can quit anytime, said I.  Then do it, says my doctor.  I’m no quitter, said I!  My doctor didn’t seem to get it.  Just sort of smiled with those rolling eyes kind of smiles.  Sigh.  How am I supposed to start my day without COFFEE.  Especially during the winter.  Which, by the way, fills half of our year in this part of the country.  With NO COFFEE!?!?!  IMPOSSIBLE!!!  Sigh.  Speaking of winter.  Muffin agrees with me.  It’s no fun.  For my newest readers, Muffin is my cat.  Right here,

enjoying herself in front of the door on a nice, warm summer’s day.  She much prefers this to now.  She definitely does not enjoy just sitting at a closed window and looking at snow.  She wants that door open.  And breathe that nice fresh air.  Which she cannot do right now.  She wants to.  Like today.  She wanted the door open.  It’s too cold, I said.  I had just come in and she stood at the door so I couldn’t close it.  I want it open, she said.  And she stood up to look out the window of the door.  NO, it’s too cold yet.  And it will be too cold for a long time yet, said I.  I won that particular argument.  Sort of.  I do go through a lot of bandages.  However, it’s starting a bit early this year.  Sigh.  CABIN FEVER is hitting both of us.  HARD.  If you have never had Cabin Fever then you have never lived in the north.  Or something.  Sigh.  Speaking of something.  I often wonder how so many things can go wrong in such a short space of time.  I’m not talking big things.  Just little things.  Somewhat annoying things.  Such as, I drop my fan and it breaks.  I kick Muffin’s water dish and it goes flying across the room with water flying in numerous directions soaking everything in it’s path.  Not much water in a little cats water dish you say?  I had just bought her a new dish which holds 2 cups of water.  And when it flies across the room it multiplies to 10 cups of water.  How it does that I do not know.  But it must.  How else can so much get so wet with so little water?  Then I grab a new roll of toilet paper which jumps out of my hand and bounces on the edge of the sink  which naturally has water in it but I manage to catch it just in time before it lands in the sink but it then jumps out of my hand a second time and, and…this time too late and it is wet.  Then I just finish sweeping the floor and I empty the dust pan in the garbage, or should say I attempt to because as I step on the foot lever to open the garbage can it flips open fast and the catches the dust pan just slightly on the edge causing ALL of the contents to go flying in the air and back onto the floor.  At this point I pull my hair, do a little one-legged happy dance and laugh hysterically while spinning in a circle.  Sigh.  Poor Muffin.  She has to put up with a lot sometimes.  She just looks, shakes her little head and goes back to bed.  And dreams about summer.  I go back to bed too.  And dream about Hawaii.  Sigh.

I hope you all enjoy your week and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.