Missyisms

Spring, Spring, Spring

It was in the air everywhere...spring! Put it in your calendar, on Feb. 10, 2009 it was a beautiful day in the Chicago-area. Yay!

The forecast was for a high of 62F (16.7C) and I think we reached and went beyond that! I was out running around, but never grabbed a picture. You'll have to take my word that the sky was a soft blue, the sun was shining and sparkling, the air was breathable, coats were not to be seen, and the attitudes were improved. ;-)

The Tribune predicted that we'd break a 135-year old record today, but I haven't heard it we did. It would be a delightful record to break.

Sadly, tomorrow is rain. Rain, rain, rain. With the ground already saturated and over an inch of rain forecast, we're being warned of flooding. Joy.

Reggie goes back to the vet in the morning for more blood tests. Wee.

Frozen Bubbles

How's this for fun: freezing bubbles and taking pictures of them. Check out these images, they're great. Thanks to Kazza for sharing this on her blog. 

A week ago I could of have frozen some bubbles...phooey, I could have done this any day this winter, except this week and two or three additional days. I'd say we're having a heat wave with temperatures in the 40s and 50s, but Australia, where Kazza lives, is having a real heat wave. We're having one of the coldest winters in years and they're having an equally hot summer. 

Enjoy the images!

Trump Glare

We had a shockingly beautiful, sunny, and warm day here in Chicagoland. It got up into the high 40s/low 50s. For the second time this winter season, over a foot of snow melted in about 24 hours. This time the temperature jump was not accompanied by rain and I haven't heard about any flooding. However, rain is in the forecast. Hopefully the ground will dry up some before the rain hits. We're tired of moisture and flooding! (Snow is forecast for late next week, so winter is not over yet.)

I went into Chicago to have lunch with a friend. We had brunch at Heaven on Seven...the original, pay-cash-only restaurant on Wabash. When we left, the sun was glaring off a building and reflecting right in our faces. It was very uncomfortable. Here's the shot...

Look at that glare and look at how far away we were! I suspect this will really bother people with windows facing that direction. Didn't the city planning committee think of that before giving permission for Trump to trump in people's faces? Yes, that's the new Trump Tower. (Click image for a bigger view, more building details, and more glare.) 

Snow Elephant

My parents took me to see an elephant today.

This is about 1.5 blocks from my parent's home. It's apparently been on the local news, but I never saw it. I wish I had seen it before it started to melt; nevertheless, it's still very impressive! I'm afraid it will be completely gone in a few days as the snow is now rapidly melting.

Glaze

This is my windshield from inside the car. We were trying to run errands before the worst of the ice and snow storm hit on Dec. 19, 2008, but the moisture and cold in the air caused the windshield to glaze over. I've never seen it do this before. We had to sit in the driveway waiting for the car's heater to warm up enough to thaw things out.

I wish I hadn't reduced the image size so much, but it's too late to play with it tonight. I do think the pattern is wild.

Off Track

It doesn't snow in the U.K. as often as it does here in the Chicago-area, but they just had a whopper storm. Don't worry, I'm not going to suggest they get a little flinty Chicago toughness. There are lots of pictures on the Internet of kids having fun, commuters suffering in the delays, and famous sights decorated with white fluffiness. I should share some of those pictures, but I won't. Instead, I give you this:

Copyright: The Guardian

This nice man is clearing snow from the platform of a train station. That's great. EXCEPT he's throwing the snow on the tracks!!!!! Hello! Surely there was a better choice than throwing snow ON THE TRACKS!

If Only It Would Stay

Look at the 38 degree swing from the low to the high! Whew! But we'll take that high any day in January! And the sun even shown to help the celebrating! And this evening the moon was fantastic.

I Want to Believe, I Really Do

Old Man Winter Hits Again

It's back.

I decided to skip a visit to the grocery tonight...I didn't want to get out of the car again till I got home. 

Wish You Were Here

Could we please have this weather back?