We're having a heat wave...

So it's finally warming up. Of course "warming up" is a relative term. As I write this on a Saturday morning it 22 degrees and it will rise to the low to mid 30's. Not yet time to break out the sunscreen though. We only needed 2 inches of snow to break our all time winter season record. Personally I was rooting for it to happen. What's 2 more inches when you already have 8 feet on the ground? What made this winter exceptional was that December and January were warmer than average. Once again the term "warmer" is a relative term. From December 2014 to January 15, 2015 we had about 30 inches of snow. No big deal really, maybe average. I'm no weather person but it was the winter and we do get snow in the winter. It was February that was crunch time. About 6 feet of snow in 3 weeks. The street surfaces themselves are clear of snow but parking is still at a premium. If you can park in a driveway, like I am, you are lucky. If you park on the street you shoveled out your space, many times, and you guard it fiercely. I certainly understand this. I have done this in the past. You have to. If you don't save it someone will take it and you're left to search out a place to leave your car. People leave all kinds of space savers in their space. Lawn chairs, cheap plastic chairs, little tables. There's a person on my street who has a small wooden table with 3 legs. The thinking is that if it gets nicked it's no big deal. It's the space itself that is important. For me the worst part of this is coming to the end of a street and having to make a turn. During the day it's worse. At least at night you can see headlights coming. You get to the end of a street and there are 10 foot piles of snow on each corner. You have inch out slowly and pray there isn't a maniac coming. We have our fair share of maniacs. That for me is the worst part of this whole winter. Arlene has had it much harder than I. She slipped on some ice, and though she caught herself on her car door and didn't hit the ground, she pulled muscles in her leg right up to her butt. She said she's had it with this winter. I can't blame her. This has been a tough one. I have been trying to placate her with thoughts of vacation in about 2 months, with scenes of beautiful sunsets like the one in my header picture and below.

I was at Arlene's house (conveniently next door) on Saturday  evening and her spirits were brightening. I had to chuckle when one of her daughters freaked out when a fly, a common house fly, appeared in her bedroom. She is such a girly girl, not that there's anything wrong with that, and she started getting all upset. Arlene and I started chuckling and I tried to calm her and said, "Relax it's just a fly! It's a sign of the changing weather. The first fly of Spring!" I grant you not the most pleasant sign, but a sign. Arlene laughed, Allison didn't.
"Oooo! Get it out of there! How did it get in?"
"Perhaps it had a copy of the house key made." I offered. She didn't find it funny but Arlene chuckled.
We didn't have a fly swatter or a rolled up newspaper handy. My weapon? Hair spray. After a few shots of hair spray, the fly's hair set with the drying setting in, it tried to land on the wall and slid to the floor behind the bed. I moved the bed from the wall, not knowing that Bruno, their dog, was sleeping under the bed. He let us know he was there by growling. I had apparently disturbed his slumber. One of his main jobs as their pet. Nice work if you can get it.
"Flush it down the toilet!" she ordered. She didn't want some mad scientist to come along and bring it back to life. Frankenfly!

Anyway, apart from huge piles of snow and no snow for at least a week. We do have warming temperatures coming our way in the upcoming week. Arlene's ready to move, at least in fantasy land, but in reality that's not going to happen. When you're a kid snow is a fantastic thing. No school, sledding, snowball fights, snow forts and generally just a lot of fun. When your an adult, not so much though I wouldn't mind going sledding even at my age. I will never completely grow up. Where's the fun in that? I suppose if I were rich I would have a winter home someplace warmer but I could never leave here for good. This is my home. Born and raised here. It's a small, crowded area and despite the problems, I love it. We have some much available to us in a relatively small area. I would consider moving north to New Hampshire. The snow wouldn't go away but they deal with it much better up there because there are more people in downtown Boston during the day then there are in the entire state of New Hampshire. Plus it is a beautiful place.
Alrighty then it's time to get my act together. We will be going out in a few hours, maybe some lunch and to do a little shopping for some odds and ends. It's sunny today and the temperature is a toasty 38 in the back yard. I'm not sure what it is out front. Arlene is feeling better and that makes me feel good. And the fly episode still makes us chuckle. That's it for this installment of nonsense...
I'm outta here.