Going out...

 February 26, 2025

The computer monitor that I’ve been using for the past several years is the largest monitor I have ever owned. The bottom edge measures about 26 inches across, and the side edge about 16 inches high. Additionally, the monitor is slightly concave. I sit about a foot and a half back from it, and it stands on my desk in front of my full-sized office window. There are about three inches between the bottom edge of the monitor and my desk, which allows me, when I bend over slightly, to see a tiny little sliver of about two inches through that window to the outside world. Of course, there is a lot of window above the monitor, but that just lets me see the sky and a few of the branches of our walnut tree—through the necessary springtime sunscreen of a bamboo curtain.

I tell you all this because yesterday for the first time in about two and a half weeks enough snow had melted from the bottom of the window that I could in fact see the roof of my car and the lower part of the post that holds the “no parking” sign on the other side of our street.

And I am very hopeful that later today I will finally be able to leave my house, go down the porch steps, to the walkway, then go from the walkway down the sidewalk to the neighbor’s driveway so I can get onto the street and walk to my car. Yes, I have been housebound since February 7^th. Although, to be honest, on the Monday of that week I couldn’t get out and about either. Here is where I thank the driver of the snowplow on that day for loading up our sidewalk. I really shouldn’t complain. They’re usually very careful not to do that.

This is the first winter ever where I have been restricted in my movements for more than a couple of days. Oh, there has been the odd day when I haven’t wanted to venture out in recent years past due to the wind, the cold or the precipitation. But this is the first time when I really couldn’t. We ended up with a lot of ice on our steps, and then snow on top of the ice, to the extent that the steps down from the porch were dicey to use the entire time. And I will admit that since my daughter was very worried that I would fall and hurt myself, I agreed to stay put.

I am sure that you can imagine that at this point, I’m more than a little antsy to just get out.

Fortunately, during this weeks-long confinement, we’ve not been without anything. Our daughter has still gone to work on all but that first really bad snowfall day. And once out, she is able to stop to get whatever we might be running low on, or just plain want, on her way home. I usually try not to ask her to do this, because I am aware that she works hard and by the end of her day she’s tired and just wants to get home. Under normal circumstances, I go out during the day to whichever local store to get whatever we want/need, so she doesn’t have to.

Of course, these last weeks have not been normal. And I will confess that it may have been a tad passive aggressive on my part to notify her of several more things we have been running out of over the last few days. But honestly, when I can’t get out to get those few items myself, someone else has to do it, and unfortunately for her, that’s her.

Yesterday, quite a bit of the snow that we received during those two huge stormy days melted. Our daughter has done a good job of driving back and forth over the patch of road at the curb where we park—running the snow that had been left there down, as it were, for ease of movement.

We’re heading out, David and I, in a half hour or so. We’ll go to one of our two grocery stores here in town—the one we used to use all the time before the prices soared. We have a small list, because in winter, we can’t use our grocery wagon, so what we buy we carry up the steps and into the house. And since we’re going to be out anyway, we’ll make a stop on the way home at his favorite eatery for lunch.

And be grateful to finally have a change of scenery.

 

Love,

Morgan

http://www.morganashbury.com

http://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury

Holy snow!

 February 19, 2025

Over the last several days, we have received over eighteen inches of snow. In our lower back yard, which is enclosed for the dogs, we have a drift that is more than two feet in height.

David and I were trying to remember the last time we had this much snow at one time. He’s 72 and I’m 70, and our memories aren’t as reliant as once they were. So we asked our daughter who’s only 46—and she can’t remember, either.

But we all know that it was more than a few years ago. Hell, the last two years didn’t even feel like real winters to us at all.

That being said, we believe in contingency plans. We have a logistical operational imperative here, with relation to possible accumulated snowfall. It takes some explanation, so here goes.

Our street isn’t all that wide. Cars can pass each other going in opposite directions, in the summer, with about a couple of inches to spare. As long as no one is parked at the curb on either side of the street.

Now, some time ago, the town changed our street from parking on each side alternatively, changing on the first day and the sixteenth day of the month, to parking only on one side the entire time. Luckily, that side is the same side of the street as our house.

Additionally, ours is a corner property, on the northwest corner of an intersection. And the cross street includes a steep hill on the west side. That means that cross street, with that hill, is one of the first areas in our town to be plowed and salted after a snowfall. And our imperative is that as soon as that cross street has been plowed, we clean off our cars and move them there. Then, we await the plowing of our own street, and only after that is done, do we move our vehicles back to our street and in front of our house.

This has worked very well for us for the last several years.

Snow fell Saturday and Sunday, and it was a miracle that we were able to get one grandson and one great-granddaughter here on Monday to help with the digging out of the cars. It took a while but finally they were moved to the cross street.

Yesterday afternoon, finally, our street was sufficiently plowed, and we were able to move our cars back.

The “we” in that last sentence is what is sometimes referred to, in our family as “the royal we”. The history of this is that when my mother would tell me that “today, we’re going to____ (fill in the blank)”, what she really meant was that I was going to do whatever work was required while she looked on.

 Yes, it was our daughter who moved the vehicles, because while the street has been plowed—somewhat—the walkway and the steps that lead up from the walkway to the porch, not to mention the curb itself are all buried under an incredible combination of snow and ice.

And we need the steps and walkway cleared, as swell as a sport on the curb shoveled out, if we are to leave our house and get into our car.

My daughter has informed us that my husband and I can consider ourselves housebound for a few more days yet.

We happen to agree with that opinion. We need to get our grandson over to clean off the walkway and the steps, get rid of snow and ice there. Then he has to shovel out not just the curb but the road itself a bit more as the plow didn’t do that good of a job and there is too much of the white stuff to drive into and away from the curb comfortably.

But first we have to wait until after tomorrow, because the forecast calls for more snow on Thursday, and who knows how much more white stuff that will really be?

Because I like to end on a positive note, there’s this: in days past, it used to be me who had to figure out all the logistics and put plans into motion. This usually included some shovel wielding by myself and my husband, too.

I am pleased to report that is no longer the case. I no longer have to shoulder the planning and the worry. I can just sit back and wait for things to be done.

 

Love,

Morgan

http://www.morganashbury.com

http://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury

 

Winter...

 February 12, 2025

I believe that y’all know that I’ve worried about all the snow that has, year after year lately, fallen in incredible amounts in places where, just a decade before, barely any ever fell at all. Seriously, after watching more than my share of American news casts, I’ve come away just shaking my head. My dear friends south of the 49^th can’t seem to catch a break, weather-wise.

Now, I am a Canadian, and to be honest with you, I have a lot of memories of very snowy winters, the winters of my younger years. I remember riding in my parent’s car, and not knowing where we were exactly, because I couldn’t see above the snow piled up on the shoulders of the road.  I used to build snow forts so high that I, at nine or ten, could stand up inside of them. Through the convenience of news reports, I’ve looked on at the white covering parts of Texas and other southern states and felt shocked.

In fact, a lot of parts of the U.S. have gotten more snow the last few years than I have seen up close and personal here in my part of Canada in a very long time. But after the last couple of our winters here in southern Ontario being—well, not much like winter, at all, I have an announcement to make.

The winter we’ve experiencing this year looks to be heading toward some record snow accumulations—some real blasts from the past. And a good part of that accumulation is scheduled to happen tonight.

This winter I have actually been hampered by the weather at times when I’ve needed to go out. Some days it’s been too cold or too icy for me to venture out. Or there was too much rain at one time which isn’t easy to navigate carrying in bags of groceries. We’ve made a habit of watching the forecasts before deciding which days are suitable for outings.

Then there was the windshield wiper blade that decided to shred at the last moment, the blade on the driver’s side. Between the occasion of that necessary and thin strip of rubber’s demise and my ability to go out in my car again on my own, a few days passed. I had to wait until last Monday when the forecast was for clear skies to get my car over to the Lube place to have new wipers put on.

And then came today. Today’s forecast called for a whole lot of snow, beginning around three this afternoon and continuing into Thursday morning. Fortunately, I was able to get my daughter to stop at a store on her way home from work today to pick up a few of the staples that I worried we might run out of. If it snows as bad as they’re saying it’s going to, it might be a few days before we can get out and buy groceries—an event that was planned for Friday.

I’m not complaining. It’s actually kind of interesting to know that the snow will sock us in and the result of that is that it’s okay. Neither my husband nor I have to go to jobs, so there will be no clearing off of vehicles nor any shoveling of sidewalks or roadways that we ourselves would have to do personally. And no snowy/icy roads for us to drive for miles on end, thank God.

That last one is the biggest blessing of all. My nightmare drives of winters past, the ones I hated over all others, were the ones that included dense fog, and roads featuring patches of black ice. My stomach clenches just thinking about those times. And running out of window washer fluid. And maybe having the defroster quit mid-commute. Yep, we experienced it all, at one point or another.

Drives that in good weather would take maybe twenty-five minutes, could and did, in the wrong conditions, take two to three hours.

So, we're about to be snowed in. We have the essentials, and at this moment are warm and toasty.

To any reading this who do not have extensive winter driving experience, I have but two words of advice: slow down!

And while one might not think that it would be necessary to expand on those two words, it needs to be done.

Dear friends, drive at no more that twenty to twenty-five miles an hour. If your car starts to slide, do not brake, but ease your foot off the gas and steer into the direction of the skid.

Stay safe out there. Spring will be here soon.

 

Love,

Morgan

http://www.morganashbury.com

https://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury

 

 

Groundhog Day...

 February 5, 2025

One of the things I like best about the entire hoopla surrounding Groundhog Day—the actual day and not the movie—is how this observance is big enough to allow for any and all interpretations.

I have to admit that this year it snuck up on me. Yes, I know that it’s always on the second day of February. But for some reason I never gave it a single thought until the day before, and only then because someone mentioned that the next day was that day.

One can always use the occasion of Groundhog Day to underscore whichever interpretation one chooses. Because I don’t see much difference between “six more weeks of winter” and “an early spring”.

Six weeks from February 2 lands us on March 16. Spring arrives (according to the calendar) on March 20 at 5:01am. Which is four days later than the “6 more weeks”, thus making the 16th an early spring.

I rest my case.

I continue my personal reorganization, and sadly, it’s taking a lot more time and effort than I would like. Focus is not a state of being that I arrive at naturally anymore. Maybe I never did. Golly, I’m sure I remember a time not all that long ago when I could keep those five or six balls in the air without even breaking a sweat. Now I can manage one, if I don’t toss it too high into the air.

I think I finally appreciate that saying, “the good old days”.

I’m working on figuring out the ins and outs of this new computer. Getting a new one was inevitable, since my previous one used Windows 10 and the powers that be decreed that they would no longer support that system beyond this coming October.

I understand the concept of planned obsolescence. I believe in Capitalism, and in the freedom of folks to make things and do things and in letting the marketplace work for them. Unfortunately, there’s a kind of planned obsolescence happening in my brain. I hope to be able to master the tasks the way that I need to in order to get my own work done.

I think only time will tell with that one—and Time is not necessarily the hero of this story.

Our youngest grandson turned twenty-three, and we gathered at a local restaurant this past Monday to enjoy a meal in celebration of that event. It was a very enjoyable occasion. His mother—our second daughter—bought him a birthday cake, which she brought to the restaurant. It was chocolate, which he dearly wanted. And decorated in the “Hello Kitty” style which is how she rolls with her “man child.”

There was a bit of a tussle between him and his five-year-old niece over the rights to those pretty plastic decorated pieces. Our grandson told her she could play with them—but they were his because this was a celebration of his birthday.

Monday was an interesting day, all the way around. It started out with an ice and snow situation involving our sidewalk and walkway that kept me from venturing out for an early afternoon appointment, as I was planning to venture out on my own. I wondered if we would make it out for our family dinner. But help came in good time to resolve the issue, and we did.

Like I said, we’re older now and getting even more so with each passing day.  On a positive note, though, I certainly understand why some elderly folk can become a bit crotchety.

And I’d like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize to any senior citizens I may had treated unfairly back in the day—even if I did so only in my thoughts.

I can honestly promise that’s not a mistake I will ever repeat in the future.

 

Love,

Morgan

http://www.morganashbury.com

http://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury