Home again, Home again!

Just back home from NOLA and a very chilly Mardi Gras. Winter Storm Warnings for today and tomorrow here.

My internal thermostat is confused!

Pics to follow.

Central Arkansas Weather -- Not Our Friend Right Now

This is the weather map from WWL TV on the afternoon of May 8, a few moments ago.

Please keep the good people who were impacted by the April 27th tornado in your good thoughts. They don't need this.

They don't need this, especially after the Young President interrupted their recovery yesterday with his photo opp stop   en route to fund-raise in California. Talk about a traffic jam.

Sorry. I'm ambivalent about his visit -- it's probably a damned-if-you-go, damned-if-you-don't-go situation. I suppose the people of Vilonia took some comfort from his all-too-few words (in which he mentioned himself a goodly number of times, and explained to his tornado-victim audience how a tornado sounds. Seriously?) and his promise of federal aid. He didn't make stops in Mayflower or Ferndale, but talk radio says his helicopter flew over them as a windshield tour. I seem to recall George W taking some flak for doing that in Air Force 1 after Katrina.

I also might point out that this is Obama's first and only trip to Arkansas, ever. Talk about living in Presidential fly-over country.

Anyway, please keep Central Arkansas in your thoughts.

Moogie Dodges a Bullet, or a Mortar Round

The tornado warning sirens went off last night. Pepper, the dogs (after we convinced Mysti to come out from under the desk in Pepper's office), and I went downstairs to our "safe place" where we remained for a good thirty minutes as the sirens went off and back on. And off and back on. And off and back on. We're pretty sure the cell passed overhead nearby, but we were spared any damage -- we didn't even get any hail(to the relief of the newly planted plants!). The lights also stayed on -- just a couple of flickers. We lucked out.

The good people some 20 minutes from here didn't, including some of our long-time friends from the National Guard. This is near where their new house used to stand, next door to their son's home. Their new brick house. Both houses are now little more than piles of rubble.

Thank God they weren't physically injured. Many Guard friends, including us, offered them a place to stay, but they went to their daughter's. That's probably for the best. The death toll has been revised down to 14 from 16 (because two people were counted twice), but the Governor expects that number to increase.

Weather experts are speculating that the tornado will be classified as at least an EF3. Pretty powerful. It's so very hard to see all this devastation -- the poor town of Vilonia was wiped out yesterday after re-building following an EF2 that hit in 2011. The emotional toll is heavy -- even on those of us who were spared. All we can do to help right now is to donate money to relief agencies -- State Troopers and the Guard are keeping non-residents out of the hardest hit areas to prevent looting and other wrongdoing by scammers who invariably show up to capitalize on disaster. Or to gawk. Been there.

To lighten up a bit, this is a picture that Younger Daughter posted on Facebook after the all clear -- it's Grandbaby #5, and it's captioned, "Baby's first tornado. It's an Arkansas thing."

Sometimes we just need to hang onto a sense of humor. And to train our kids about storm preparation -- #5 has his flashlight and some fruit snacks.

Welcome home to Tornado Alley, Moogie and Pepper, after 14 years in Hurricaneville. I don't think I'd like to be our neighbor if given a choice -- we seem to be storm magnets.

Saturday Goings on and Humor

I don't have much.  I've been out playing with the dogs in this gorgeous weather, and now I'm trying to avoid watching the Arkansas/LSWho game because both teams really need the W if there's to be any post-season play.  My Hogs have had quite a drought in the post-season department for waaaaay too long now.  But, I can hear it in the next room, so I might as well go subject myself to it.

Ran across this on Facebook this morning:

Heh. This is nothing new, though, is it?  I wonder if the "losers" will be paid the new prevailing federal minimum wage.  Hopefully, some of them will be able to spell.

Go Hogs!

This, That, and Dogs

The thaw has set in today, just in time for the next round of winter storm to kick into gear tomorrow. About noon-ish, they're saying.  That means we need to get to the Krogerville in the morning to re-stock the wine rack.  No Sunday liquor sales in Arkansas.  Stupid, archaic Blue Laws.

We had a case of Kamikaze Birdies yesterday! A Cardinal, a Junco, and a little Chickadee were chasing one another around the deck and feeders and all 3 smashed into the windows. Really hard -- I heard the impacts from the other end of the house! Pepper went out to see how they were, got them uprighted, and petted them a little to calm them. A few minutes later, he found a box and brought the Chickadee and the Junco inside. Inside the house! On the kitchen table! He said he didn't want them just sitting out there, shivering, while they tried to recover. (At least he covered the box with some newspaper.) The Cardinal managed to fly up to the rail outside, so he left her alone. Some 15 minutes later, I heard a commotion in the next room and went to check it out. The Junco had come to his senses and flapped out of the box toward the window! Remember, we have 2 large, very interested bird dogs. Pepper managed to catch the little guy before Bouie and Mysti could, and I opened the door so he could go to  set the little guy free. He flew away, along with the Cardinal, gratefully. The little Chickadee, unfortunately, didn't make it. Pepper gave him a dignified send off. My big, bad husband is such a softie!  No bird casualties today.  Yet.

We were able to get up the hill last night, so we were also able to make it downtown to a beautiful wedding reception for a young woman we raised along with our girls, held at one of Little Rock's prettiest hotels (The Capital Hotel).  She was radiant!  I know no one particularly wants to read about the wedding of some total stranger, but that's beside the point.  This is what's important:  while we waited for the bride and groom to make their appearance, there was an open bar (always a nice thing), and passed hors d'oeuvres were served.  Oh. My. Gosh.  I now have a new favorite -- baked bacon on a stick!!! A little piece of piggish heaven -- on a stick!  The bride is a big bacon fan.

And now, to make me smile, a few dog pics:

 Our Mysti Girl, all grown up and "helping" me with my lunch.

 Sweet old man, resting up from a puppy hassling him.

 Bouie and the sunbeam -- his new favorite nap spot.

 Mysti, performing her version of "cute" on her birthday.

 More cute.

 Bouie apparently likes this spot, too.

 Ol' Bou is growing more and more gray hair.  Pepper calls him "Graybeard."  Talk about pot and kettle . . .

 Mysti like to play with the neighbor Border Collie pup through the fence -- can you see the Border Collie snout and paw poking through at the corner?

 Bouie has a raccoon.  And, apparently, a little anxiety.  Look at those ears!

 More cute and perky.

 Mysti is what we like to call a "leaner."

 Lunch companions.

 Christmas duck (that we had to hide from them before they drove us nuts with the quacker!)

I love this grin!  Baby fox, seen on the floor, is now a baby Fox-cicle since Miss Mysti took him through the doggie door and left him in the snow.  Big Fox is now just a fox torso since he was the biggest loser in a game of tug-o-war.

 Watching "The Life of Pi" and hating on some wild hogs (in the previous scene -- I know that's an elephant on the screen now).

Life is good when you're off the leash.  Happy Sunday!

Ramblings of an Ice Storm-addled Mind

Remember this picture taken last summer shortly after we moved into Moogie's Manor?

Our deck is sheltered, serene, and secluded.  Like being in a treehouse in the mountains.

At least it was until Fall.

This is what it looks like today:

There's nothing like a little freezing rain among friends.

The funny thing, though, is there are all kinds of houses back there that we didn't even know existed until the leaves fell!  I feel like we're on display now! And there have been coyotes trotting along the creek bed, searching for prey. Or a handout.  Seriously, coyotes in my backyard, smack in the middle of the city! Glad we don't have an outdoor cat.  Several have disappeared around the neighborhood as of late.

Remember the bird feeder that the squirrels loved to dump unceremoniously onto the ground?

Here it is today:

Covered in ice!  I secretly wish the little rodents would try it today.  There would be lots of squirrel carcasses out there!  They could be cleaned and join the others that Pepper put in the freezer after popping them with his pellet gun.

I know, I know.  Arkansans eating squirrels.  Granny Clampett's world-famous squirrel stew.  It ain't gonna happen though unless Pepper finds some way to take the fluffy-tailed squirrel image out of my head.

Chickens aren't cute.

Have I ever mentioned that we live at the bottom of a seriously steep hill?

That's Pepper walking down the hill early in December after the first snowfall.  He managed to get the truck up the hill where it remained parked so we could get out to go to the store or have heart surgery.  But that is another story, and Pepper just got a clean bill of health after a follow-up exam last week.  Two weeks after doing a half-marathon in Key West, where I didn't get to go because I had to give up my crown.

Don't ask.  The man's stubborn.

Fortunately, we're not directly at the bottom.  I'd have nightmares about vehicles joining us in the bedroom. We learned shortly after moving here that ours is the street where LRFD candidates are taken to see how they manage fire trucks on steep hills.  Yep.  Nightmares about fire trucks joining us in the bedroom.  No casualties, however.  Yet.  Yep, I'm glad we're up a hill on the right side of the cul-de-sac and not directly in the line of fire of fire trucks.

Anyway.  I doubt we'll be going anywhere today.

Happy 2014! (A little belatedly)

Yes.  It is 2014 and I am still alive.  Pepper is, too, but that's a story for another day.  We are adjusting to being back among family and old friends.  We are trying to adapt to the climate.

This is my new tee shirt.

It speaks the truth.

Birthdays and Hurricanes -- and Cocktails!

Moogie's Mansion is all shuttered up.  It's dark in here!

I spent my 2005 birthday in Little Rock, having evacuated for Katrina.  That's one birthday I'll never forget.

Pepper and I were just strolling down memory lane, trying to recall what we were doing when Hurricane Gustav blew in about this time in 2008. 

He was still running Disaster Management for Entergy back then (as a secondary responsibility to his regular position -- his last billet with Fifth Army was pretty much the same thing, except that the Fifth Army's responsibility for the Northcom region encompassed most of the central portion of the United States instead of just southeast Louisiana;  Entergy had flown him back to Baton Rouge from our evacuation in 2005 to manage the post-Katrina recovery as military liaison.  He apparently did a good job because they kept going back to him for subsequent storms -- and Russel Honore still gets on his last nerve.  Long story.), so he headed to the state EOC (Emergency Operations Center) in Baton Rouge while I loaded the car with a whole lot of stuff, plus three dogs, and set out for Little Rock.  In contraflow, the pace of which made snails look like Speedy Gonzales and his amigos.  The trip that usually takes 7 hours took more like 12, and there were no bathroom stops for the first 7 or 8 hours.  And I saw the remains of an enormous snake on the road, which meant that I had the heebie jeebies for the remainder of the trip.  And I had to walk three cranky dogs when I gassed up in Tallulah.  On my birthday. 

It turned out that Gustav hit Baton Rouge instead of New Orleans, and Pepper was stuck there.  Then, it tracked up into Arkansas and dumped a walloping amount of rain on me.

And Ike hit a week or so later, so I just stayed in Little Rock. In a house with three people, one bathroom, and four dogs.

Last year, TS Lee hit the weekend after my birthday, while our downstairs air conditioning was out of service.

We've decided that we're tired of celebrating my birthday in the company of hurricanes and tropical storms.

I think we deserved the fancy cheese tray during Cocktails with Isaac yesterday evening.

And , I think I really hope that Entergy doesn't call Pepper back from retirement to do one more round of consequence management, disaster or otherwise!

I think cocktail hour might arrive a little early today.

Isaac, the Unwelcome Guest

The timing is pretty lousy.

Pepper spent the morning nailing shutters closed while I picked up outdoor knick-knacks.  The generator is primed and non-perishable foodstuffs are at the ready.  We're going to Lowe's this afternoon to pick up a few solar lights -- they work great when the power goes out at night. 

Then we wait.

And try to keep a sense of humor:

But, the lousy timing -- the anniversary of Katrina -- is pretty bad.  I had to re-schedule my hair appointment!!

Cheers, y'all.  Keep us in your positive thoughts, please.

Happy Mardi Gras 2012!!!

I briefly tried to post a small political distraction on the iPad, but the App gods had other ideas, so . . .

Happy gorgeous, joyful Mardi Gras!!!!

I'm sleeping for the next day or so.

A Magic Show in the Sky

Is this a cool picture, or what -- lightning passing through a rainbow!  From Wednesday's Times-Picayune:

Saturday Speculation

Man, Little Rock got spanked by the Thursday night/early Friday morning storms. Trees down, trees down on houses.

The weather seems to have it in for people these days.

I blame it on the EPA. And the White House.

The Winter Experience South of Interstate 10

Classes have been dismissed at LSU and untold numbers of Parish schools, there have been some pretty bad pile-ups on the long bridges around here, there's a cold rain falling, and I'm wearing sweat pants and socks!  Daughters, their dogs, and their men are having a "snowed-in slumber party" at Younger Daughter's Place in Little Rock while big, fat flakes fly.

All this winter frivolity has led to The Facebook being a pretty rich source of winter weather material today.  I cracked up at these and decided to steal them, the better to share them.  Here's a video that explains to the world north of I-10 how we approach winter precipitation in the south:

And this. We are not a winter-hardy people in the South (click to enlarge):

I may not be ready for 70s or 80s, but I could surely stand to be out of the 30s.  Yeah, yeah, I know.  I hear you all playing those thumb-and-finger record players of violin music for me.  Hush up and go make some snow ice cream -- at least you have some pretty white stuff to go along with your wrapped pipes and pets-in-the-bed! 

This woman appears to have adopted the "North of Interstate 40 Attitude" --


Does that about capture it? Heh.

Hotttttttt.

And "crap" = 120 degrees.

I couldn't have said it better -- or more accurately -- myself. It's been doing this for waaaay too many days, but at least I'm not in Little Rock where the air temp hit 107 yesterday. Then again, 107 v. 102? A difference with little distinction.

As Pepper says, "It must be global warming."

Heh.

Reflections on the Fourth, or "Plan Ahead"

Pepper and I had a rather serious case of the indecisives about the Independence Day holiday this year. We couldn't come to a decision about what to do and/or whether to go somewhere to take advantage of the lagniappe time off from work.

And then, there was that other thing.

A couple of years ago -- three now, I believe, because middle grandchild John was still crawling -- The Son and his family came down for a visit and towed back to Arkansas a rather nice pleasure craft that Pepper had been persuaded to purchase for the family. Why, you might ask, was the Pleasure Craft towed back to Arkansas instead of berthing here in sunny New Orleans where Moogie and Pepper could enjoy it on the meandering rivers of southeast Louisiana and open waters of Lake Pontchartrain?

See the foregoing: "persuaded to purchase for the family," with the bulk of said family being located in Arkansas.

Although Moogie is a rather prominent member of "the family," she has been aboard that boat a grand total of -- um, let me calculate it here, um -- once. The day it was purchased. The day before it headed north. Pepper has been aboard a few more times, having been in Arkansas and available for nautical adventures during the intervening summers, but, Moogie? Nope.

So, we thought, maybe we should visit the family for the Fourth and let Moogie get her sea legs and join in the early celebration of Younger Daughter's July 7th birthday.

That's when it got a little complicated.

Younger Daughter, during most of her twenties, has thrown a birthday bash camping trip on Lake Ouachita near Hot Springs with family and friends. Outdoors. In tents. In Arkansas in July.

The last 3 years, the above-referenced Pleasure Craft has transported them to islands where they set up camp, and entertained them during the day with wakeboarding and tubing and other wind-in-your-hair, spray-in-your-face activities. A trip to Ouachita would give Moogie an ideal opportunity to spend time with family and get familiar with the Pleasure Craft! One might be tempted to conclude that this scenario was indeed an ideal opportunity.

Um, nope.

You see, Ouachita is a beautiful, pristine body of water whose quality exceeds that of most cities' treated drinking water, but it is, after all, outdoors. In Arkansas. In July.

I do enough perspiring where I live, and I did a tremendous amount of perspiring during our vacation to LJ's wedding in Ft. Lauderdale a few weeks ago and at the CLE conference in St. Pete back in May, and I can cope with that. But, there's a difference with distinction between those locales and a camping trip to Lake Ouachita in Arkansas in July: in all of those sweaty locations I was able to sleep in air-conditioned comfort, free from perspiration, nocturnal buzzing insects, and (literally) rock-hard sleeping surfaces.

As a younger woman, pre-childbirth, who could wear two-piece swimsuits with flair and aplomb, I actually enjoyed camping. I even backpacked Europe for three months! But as a more "mature" woman, accustomed to many creature comforts, do I put "camping in July" high on my wish list? Nope -- not so much. Pepper, having given nearly 35 years to the Army, a great deal of which was spent in the Infantry, didn't have much argument to my take on the whole camping thing. So, we thought about trying to find nearby accommodations where we could join the kids during the day and retire to A/C to sleep.

We thought about doing this on the Fourth of July weekend the week before. With dogs in tow, because who can get kennel reservations the week before July 4th?

Ha! Just try to find pet-friendly accommodations near a lake the week before the most lake-centric holiday of the year, even if your husband's high school chum runs a nearby resort. Bill offered to rent us the floor in his bedroom!

So . . . this recounting has been a rather convoluted explanation of how Pepper and Moogie came to be on a friend's balcony on July 4, 2010, watching fireworks over the Mississippi River in New Orleans with a freshly baked apple pie. You can't eat store-bought apple pie while watching fireworks on the Fourth of July.

And Moogie has still been aboard the Pleasure Craft a grand total of -- once.

Snow in Southeast Louisiana!

Well, this doesn't happen here often!

Poor little southeast Louisiana football play-offers are not accustomed to winter weather! Snow fell last night on the northshore of Lake Ponchartrain, and we even had some of what we lovingly refer to as "fat raindrops" plop on the windshield as we drove across the Crescent City Connection (the big bridge over the Mississippi River) to a progressive dinner party aboard the Naval Support Activity. There might even have been a crunching or two of sleet.

Shelters are open and the weather-people are simply beside themselves, warning us all to prepare to protect the "4 Ps" -- plants, pets, pipes, and people. They don't get much opportunity to get all excited in the winter -- hurricane season is usually their "star" time.

Our biggest concern was driving across a big bridge in the company of lots of folks who have no clue about how to drive in winter precipitation. Fortunately, they chose to drive slowly and cautiously.

The surprise arrival of winter certainly did make a festive backdrop for a Christmas gathering -- even if it was a little soggy making the trip between courses. And Bouie got to do a cold weather swim this morning -- his favorite. Pepper said Bouie was really happy to swim once he figured out that the water was probably warmer than the air!

I love winter in the south!