strange weather...

I don't remember a warmer Dec/Jan here in mid California. We have been inching close to 70 degrees,
but it doesn't feel like Spring. Nope. It's yucky, dry, hazy, and the air is the worst in the entire country.
Yep, that's our claim to fame around here.

But then I turn on the news and it seems to be record breaking COLD everywhere else.
Life threatening historic cold weather. Crazy contrast.

So today my friend of nearly 40 years, Pam in Michigan, sent me pictures from her back yard.
Suddenly I gain a more personal perspective of what we don't have here.
Look what she has to contend with! But at the same time these pictures are gorgeous to me.

Right out her bedroom window it looks like this:




I've always loved her barn. 
She said the snow blew in mounds like that.


Outside her daughter's back door..

And look what they have to go through just to get their cars out of the driveway.

By the way, Pam and I have never actually met. 
We began writing to each other 39 years ago. 
We kept in touch through the mail for years….through our marriages, the births of our children, 
and all those crazy years between. 

One of the biggest regrets of my life is that I did not save all our letters. 
What history that would be to me now.

Pam did however save the pictures, including this photo of me when we first started writing in 1974!
She wrote underneath what I had written on the back of that photo.
Little did I know we'd still be corresponding as GRANDMAS!

Now we mostly email and talk on the phone. 
Someday we'll meet but it really doesn't matter to me that we haven't yet.
Friendship is friendship. And it doesn't have to be in person to have that strong bond.


Here's the latest little comment from Pam:
"The wind chill is now -47 degrees. Wonder at what temp it doesn't matter. I mean, does -25 degrees feel warmer than -45 degrees? Cold is cold! All stores should be closed to discourage people from leaving their homes."


Two very different cultures we live in. 
Vastly different weather anyway!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for writing about us on your blog and for all the wonderful sentiments. Now I'm all choked up!! Praise to God for delivering your very first letter to me and guiding us throughout these years. You are the best little sister I never had. Our family loves your family so very much.

The wind blew snow all yesterday and plugged up the driveways overnight so we started the clearing process again at daybreak and braved the sub-zero temp in order to get to the cars for those of us who have to go to work. I measured the deepest drifted snow at 29". Sun is shining and by the end of the week we may be in the 30's. A regular heat wave!

pjc in MI

Scrapally said...

I know our snow is nothing compared to what they are having in the east. So I will try not to complain! What a sweet friendship! how did you two "meet" originally to start corresponding? What or who connected you?

Anonymous said...

You and I have a similar story, Jill. And the common denominator is YOU. You are a very loyal person. Both Pam and I have benefited from your loyalty. (And many other people as well, I'm sure.)
About the snow. I've lived in life-threatening cold winters in Indiana, and, being a California girl, I can tell you that the beauty of snow wears off real quick when you actually have to deal with it. Especially with children. Growing up in CA, I barely needed a coat. Sweaters usually would do. What a shock it was to move to the Midwest! Today I love to look at pictures of snow, but have no desire to step outside into it. I guess I'm just a snow-wimp!
darlene

Ammy said...

Yep...the wind makes the snow drift. We have ground blizzards here...and it makes icy, black ice, roads that are terrible to drive on. We used to get drifts 15 feet high...it was so fun to play. Sill I have never been as cold as the winter of 1993. John and I were newly married and living in Clovis...it was a "chill to the bone" type of cold. It was so humid and cold and I am used to the dry cold. Such a difference. I love the -30 degree weather we have, because we get to play in the snow and come inside to warm up with hot cocoa! Otherwise, it'd be pretty depressing! :)

Grandma Honey said...

Scrapally….I don't remember exactly. I think it was a friend of a friend type thing initially. I would have paid more attention at the time if I had known what a great friendship it would turn out to be.

Ammy~ Coldest winter was here in Clovis? I guess I don't understand dry versus humid cold. Amazing to me to read this.

Grandma Honey said...

Darlene~ I'm certain I would be a snow wimp too. But I sure would love to see it. The most snow I have seen just barely covered the ground.

Karen Mortensen said...

Those pictures are really pretty but I am glad I don't see that when I look out my window.

Susan Anderson said...

Cannot even imagine dealing with that kind of weather! (And I don't want to, either!!)

;)

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