Go ahead - you can laugh now...

[Lori]

I admit - sometimes we of the warmer latitudes get a little uppity when we hear about all the shoveling out from under the white stuff going on with you eskimos - er yankees, I mean northerners..

So I can understand your blowing a little bad chi our way when you get too jealous that we are still having workouts on the beach and leaving the windows open - walking around in our shirtsleeves and complaining that it didn't make it up past 65 today...

So I can understand a few less than kind wishes sent this way as you freeze your buns off up there...

But I just got in from covering my outside plants with blankets because we have a FREEZE WARNING! What a major pain! The hibiscus may lose all its flowers tonight...

So you guys lay off sending the bad chi this way okay? We want it to be nice for Winterfest... We promise not to tease anymore... too much anyway!



Stay warm.

------------------
Lori
Forum Recommended/Reviewed Books

[Allen M.]

I know how youse guys are down there. When I moved from Orlando to New England on one of the hottest days in a Nashua August, I had a windbreaker on and was freezing. I had to ask the salesperson if it always got this cold up here. There were no words to accompany the looks I got from everyone in the store.

We usually get a "freeze" warning in October, called a frost. Up here in the hinterlands, Lori, we use "electric" blankets. When the frost occurs, we cover ourselves with blankets, not the plants. Please rethink the concept.

I have to go now, and prepare for tomorrow afternoon's snowstorm



------------------
Allen Moulton from Uechi-ryu Etcetera

[david]

Lori,

We're just looking to share our wealth of winter fun. Just have to learn to enjoy the winters up here. Over the New Year, the family went up to the "French Canadian Riviera" -- Maine -- for a little fun in the sun and snow:



And when the outdoors get a tad bit too much... Can always retreat indoors to the mini-dojo to play with the toys and enjoy the scenery outside.



Life ain't too bad up here.

david

[student]

David:

You kids look great!
Your wife is beautiful!
Your scenery is awesome!
And your steel is obviously wanting to come visit with me!!!


student

Although Lori could use the katana on the oversized crayfish....

[Tony-San]

I'm freezing my arse off! It's like 55 out there! I had to turn the heater on this morning because my tootsies are turning blue.

[Mary S]

55!!!!????? Tony, at least you guys are in the double-digits!!! We are expecting a storm tomorrow up here.

All I can say is that "cold" snap had better be gone by the time Lori MD and I arrive!!!!

[Panther]

Shoveling... SHOVELING!!!

Lori-san,

My driveway is well over 2000' long, rising from a street elevation of ~940' to the house at ~1100'. On the local weather reports up here, it is standard to hear such phrases as: "We expect X amount of snow for this storm, with the higher elevations of northern Worcester county getting 2X..." When anyone hears that italicized phrase, they can just substitute at Panther's place instead! On New Years weekend when everyone else was worried about the 6-12" 'blizzard', we got ~15+" with gale-force winds at my house! Aaaaaahhhh, Sanchin during a blizzard! No "shoveling" though... I use a Case 480-D Construction King Frontend Loader to clean my driveway and I've gotten to where it only takes about 3.5 hours. Pass the java, Tony-san... PLEASE! (I take it black, the way God meant it to be...)



[This message has been edited by Panther (edited January 05, 2001).]

[Gilbert MacIntyre]

Lori-san, what you miss is the absolute quite of the world after a heavy snow fall. The knife like stab of the frigid air against the back of your throat and in your lungs as you do your morning run. The kindness of people to each other after a snow storm.

I love all four seasons and all their glory, admitted, by spring, winter and I aren't exactly on speaking terms.

By the way we're expecting a foot of the white stuff tonight and more on Tuesday.
Gilbert.

[Mary S]

We are in the midst of a winter storm as I write this. I walked up to the corner store about 20 minutes ago...walking there with the wind and snow in my back was a breeze...the walk back was a totally different story. I feel like I just finished a high intensity class!!! I was in sanchin the whole way back and pretty sweaty by the time I got in the door and brushed all the snow off. Winterfest? Bring it on!!!!

[Allen M.]

Oh, isn't the new falling white stuff just so beautiful to behold?

Panther, Why don't you just run some Nichrome under your driveway?

So far from the road, eh, Panther? You must have tripwires set up all over the place.

------------------
Allen Moulton from Uechi-ryu Etcetera

[Lori]

Okay - I take it back. Northern people aren't mean and cursing us with wishes of cold weather - they are just a little touched in the head. It's still freezing down here - I don't think it made it above 65 today - if so - then just by a hair... and still - when we sat on the boardwalk by the beach after lunch... there were all these crazy tourists - actually SWIMMING IN THE OCEAN! And the rest of us sensible people wearing jackets and sweaters - it was a crazy scene... you had to see it to believe it. Skimpy bathing suits, suntan oil, calm blue ocean, sunny sky, but COLD! Crazy.

[Mary S]

Ah Lori...when I was just a wee thing growing up on the north shore of Nova Scotia, we used to just push ice bergs out of the way to enjoy a dip at the beach. I couldn't wait to hit that water and would come out blue with cold. Now that I'm older (and wiser?) I don't do that so much anymore. See you in a bit girlfriend!!!

[lori macleod-doyle]

Lori,
65 degrees???? You must be kidding.
Yesterday was a balmy -2 degrees celcius.(about 28 degrees F.)
I spent the day enjoying the snow at my favorite snowboarding spot.
The conditions were fantastic and I had a blast. It started to snow around midday and it just added to the fun. We have had about 35 centimeters(15 inches) of snow fall since yesterday and I'm planning on hitting the hills again tomorrow.
If you have to live in a colder climate than you better learn to make the most of it.
Although,when I head South,I want it to be warm. I hope that the cold snap that you guys have been experiencing will be over when Mary and I arrive next week,but 65 degrees sounds pretty good to me.
See you soon!

Lori M-D

[Panther]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Allen M.:

Panther, Why don't you just run some Nichrome under your driveway? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Too expensive...

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote

So far from the road, eh, Panther? You must have tripwires set up all over the place.

Nope... No need, the dog's take care of 'em. (Or the Fishercats! )

Actually, I left the gate (actually it's just a massive chain between two huge trees) open a couple of times this past weekend and the number of folks who thought it was a road instead of a driveway was amazing! This morning on the way out to work, we got behind two pick-up trucks pulling out of our woods/driveway. I was going to talk with them, but they were just X-country skiers looking for a place to park. Must have seen the house (which you can, through the trees, after about 1000' in) and realized they weren't in one of the State Forest parking areas. Our place is almost completely surrounded by State Forest (~8k acres)... Except for the street frontage, one wet area that some neighbors own, and a land-locked piece which we have first-rights on.