Snowforms

The snow in my back yard is really gorgeous right now. Repeated small snowfalls, wind and extreme cold have collaborated to create these amazing designs (click to expand):

Damn!

OK, we all know it's cold, but Damn! That's cold! It's cold like it used to be, for those two or three days every winter. It's an exhausting cold, but a cleansing cold. And thank ghod for the foot of snow protecting our plants! If only I had a foot of snow protecting the soda in the garage fridge. That'll be fun to clean up (once it warms up enough to risk having wet hands in the garage).

A Luster of mid-day

There was a brilliant full moon last night (OK, techincally, the fool moon fell after midnight but, still), and it seemed all the more brilliant due to the thick layer of snow on the ground. Like the poem says,

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow, Gave a luster of mid-day to objects below.

Now, Mama doesn't wear a kerchief, and our winter's nap was all but long due to our hungry, hungry hippo of a boy. But the moon was glorious.

(The scene was much like that at right, but credit for the photo goes to BlueRidge Muse. I hope it's ok I used your photo!)

A recipe...

Yule Toddy

2 oz. Ginger Brandy
1 oz. Barenjager Honey Liqueur
1/2 oz. Maraschino Liqueur
1/2 oz. Dark Rum
Juice of 1/2 lemon
4 oz. boiling water

Serve hot.

This is just about right. I may need to reduce the amount of Maraschino a bit, since not everyone enjoys the strangely spicy flavor as much as I do. Otherwise, I think it's delightful. Works out to around 40 proof, so think schnapps when deciding how much to drink. If serving to a crowd, I think I'd pre-mix the first 4 ingredients in bulk, then add the lemon juice and boiling water just before serving. This would reduce the amount of fiddling required. I think I'll try this out on the family at Christmas... in small cups.

PS: I've submitted the recipe to drinksmixer.com. (not listed yet) As of today, Google shows only two hits on "Yule Toddy", both apparently referring to a toddy drunk at yuletide, not a specific recipe. I'll be curious to see if that number increases.

Durable Snowflakes

Popular Science has a great bit on how to "Save a Snowflake for Decades". It sounds pretty simple. Pre-chill microscope slides, cover slips and regular super glue. Catch a snowflake on the slide, add a drop of superglue, drop on the cover slip, and store in the freezer for a couple of weeks while the glue sets. voila! I've got to try this next time we get a good dendrite snow. The pic at right is from the popscience page.

Happy Solstice!

Great news for all of the Season Affectives in the Northern Hemisphere - as of approximately 6:30 CST this evening, the days are getting longer! To celebrate, I prepared version 2 of my holiday grog (Solstice Toddy?), turned on all of the lights in the house, and built a fire in the patio fireplace. Unfortunately, it was misting out, so there was a substantial amount of smoke generated, and I smell like ass... burning ass... damp burning ass. Not good.

Oh, and in case any are wondering, this celebration was purely in a medical-scientific vein. No "paganity" (drum beating, dancing about in the all-together, chanting, or spell casting) was involved. It was just a pleasant combination of drinking and fire, designed to celebrate an anticipated improvement in general mood, and to help fulfill my desire for holiday ritual and tradition. Grog recipe will be forthcoming, after a few more fine tuning iterations. I think this one has promise!

Snow Day!

No school for the kid today! In fact, we've all decided to stay home. The whole area is under a Blizzard Watch. We've got 3 or 4 inches on the ground with totals to exceed 10 inches today! And winds are gusting up to 35 miles per hour. A-a-a-nd it's supposed to be worse to the south (which is the direction I'd have to go to get to work) Sheesh! HAve a look at the video I shot after I (pointlessly) shovelled the driveway:


(PS: That's not fog, it's snow, blowing in sheets across the landscape. OK, it's boring, but I like uploading stuff to YouTube - makes me feel connected.)

Truth be told, I'm feeling a little guilty about not going to work today. There's a load of stuf fI need to get done, and now it'll sit until Monday. But Kenosha county (the one I travel through on the way to work) is reporting that they already have over 30 accidents, most of them on the interstate. I guess it's good I'm staying home. Besides, now I can get the tree up!

Anybody else staying home today? Or more to the point, did anybody from the area actually go to work? Leave a message in the comments!