Sunday, January 10, 2010, 21:40
Once in a Blue Moon
It has been cold here for the past couple of weeks. "January cold" with 20 below zero Fahrenheit a few nights and anywhere beyond that from 2 below and on down.
At any rate, Christmas has come and gone. New Year's has come and gone. Christmas here at Rural Route 2 with my family on January 2 has come and gone.
I have to say that I could not be more delighted with the Christmas cactus that I transplanted into an old calf bucket last spring and then set out on the back step for the summer. When it was down to the point of freezing last fall, I took the Christmas cactus to the newspaper office where it has been blooming for the past month or so.
Christmas Eve Day we started out with a fine snowstorm. Randy went out in the morning with the 460 Farmall to move some of the snow in preparation for additional snow. Unfortunately, it began to rain in the afternoon and rained the rest of the time until the storm system had moved through. Before the rain began, even my hummingbird windchime was packed with snow.
New Year's Eve we had a blue moon, the second full moon of the month. At sunset, Randy went out with the camera to take a picture of the last sunset of the decade before we moved into 2010. There are some who will argue that the decade does not start until 2011, but it just seems simpler to me to say that if it is 2010, it's the new decade -- especially if you count the year 2000 as the first year in the decade. . .anyway. . .
Later on, Randy went out with the camera and took a picture of the last moonrise of 2009, the blue moon.
When we had Christmas here on Saturday, my great-nephew, Alex, enjoyed playing my old piano. And when I say old, I mean old. The thing is 96 years old. It was built in 1914. (The sippy cup on the piano really makes the picture, doesn't it? Every time he would finish a "song" he would turn around and clap his hands and say "Yay!" and invite the rest of us to applaud his performance.)
My newest great-nephew, Asher Joseph, born on December 11, slept the whole time, even with all the uproar and hub-bub going on around him.
My oldest great-nephew, Eli, who will turn four in April, is almost too big for me to pick up now, but I managed.
My only great-niece, Evelyn, didn't know what to make of all the people in the house, but she was quite willing to give her baby brother his pacifier.
Sam, Eli's brother, who turned one in September, decided he wanted to taste the dinosauer we had gotten for him.
So now I can officially say that Christmas 2009 has come and gone. And not only that, but by the end of the week, January will be half over. Where DOES the time go?
LeAnn R. Ralph
Thursday, January 07, 2010, 15:19
Rural Route 2 News (Status)
Where has the week gone? I had planned to send out Rural Route 2 News on Monday, January 4. That did not work out as I had planned. I have been more swamped this week with work than I had anticipated.
The weather has remained cold this past week with lows up to 20 below zero and highs only in the single digits or up to 10 degrees.
Wednesday the temperature got up to 20 degrees, and Wednesday evening it started to snow. By Thursday morning we had an inch on the ground, and it was still snowing and windy.
I have pictures to post to the Rural Route 2 photo album, and I will send out those links with Rural Route 2 News.
LeAnn R. Ralph