Reading and repairs

The number of books that I read to my son has now increased to a rotation of four. He lines them up on the floor, and when he decides to put them away he takes them, one at a time, to the bookshelf. We've been in the house a lot because the weather has been extremely cold. There's been a lot of reading.

Last week was only a two day school week with President's Day and two days cancelled due to cold. I'm sure next week will have at least one cold day. Temperatures have been below zero in the morning.

After swimming last week I was driving home in a light snow on a side street and hit a patch of ice. I was only doing about 15-20 miles per hour and slammed into the curb tire first. I knew I knocked the car out of alignment and managed to limp the short distance home. There I saw the tire had some chunks chopped out but it was not flat, yet. Limped to a repair shop that is open on Saturdays and hoped for the best, which did not quite happen. Needed a center arm and ball joint, which they could not get that day, in addition to the alignment so we had no car last weekend.

Picked up the car Monday afternoon, after waiting for the bus downtown in some freezing cold weather and was told the rim on the tire was bent, but they moved it to the rear so the car is drivable. Had to cancel a reading in Pittsburgh after getting the bill and have to make arrangements to get a new rim next week.

Today we had about half a foot of snow, which is equivalent to two feet in just about any other northern city. Roads were a mess. The temperature did get above freezing for most of the afternoon so the heat pump activated. I had to pour water on the blades to get some of the snow off as the fans were not moving. I also noticed this.



Steam freezes into interesting shapes, eh?

The effect of lake effect

A driveway that I parked in a month ago is now under six feet of snow. Buffalo, New York gets picked on its weather but this week's storm has not given people around the country reason for mocking or ridicule, but respect.

The most snow I experienced was Super Bowl weekend of 1985 when three feet of snow fell in Fredonia, New York. It was impressive and more than a bit scary. College classes were delayed for several days as the semester was set to begin that week.

It is mind boggling for me to think about double that,

When roads were blocked and travel next to impossible I saw the people of Buffalo rally together and help people get to where they needed to go, or to a safe place.

Friends of mine still cannot get out of their homes, thankfully their power and heat remains on. They've shared stories and photographs. They've been trying to dig themselves out to get to work, to get to the store, to do something for a neighbor, to keep from going stir crazy and I have nothing but admiration for all of them. They have had a crazy few days and each one of them deserve all the rest and quality beverages they want when their driveways are cleared and the roads are passable.

Be safe, all of you.

A Snowy Day in Columbus

A few hours ago over fifty Columbus poets gathered on the steps on the Main Library for a family portrait. It was done in the spirit of A Great Day in Harlem.

Poets gathered in the lobby, generations of local poets who have been on the scene for years to kids and others just starting out. It was a remarkable mix of people that shows the diversity of the scene. It is a scene I am proud and humbled to be a part of.

We were called to get outside and get ready for our picture. It was chilly outside. The one day of cold in a mild winter. Just as we cats were herded onto the steps for the official portrait, it began to snow, heavily. But us Snoets prevailed.

I chose to take the pictures in black and white to pay tribute to the Harlem photo and thank my wife for taking the pictures when the snow started to fly. They look like a presidential inauguration or something.

I did not tag anyone or caption, this is who Columbus is when it comes to poetry. Feel free to share the link or pictures. Remember when they came from.

Finally all of this came together because of the efforts of Scott Woods. Much thanks and praise to him for getting us all together for this impressive event.

Snow Day

It's a rare day when the large Midwestern land grand university closes, but today was one of them. I think it's only closed seven times in the last thirty years.

Spent a bit of the day shoveling out, watching my kid play with his remote control truck, cuddling with the people in the house, watching Everton beat Sporting Lisbon in Europa League play.

Also had one of those aha(!) musical discoveries. A quartet from Norway. I do not know too much about them, but I've liked the videos I've seen.

Enjoy.