Random 5 on Friday ~ Winter Storm Edition

It's another Friday and that means another Random 5 on Friday post! This week, I am calling it the winter storm edition as I ramble about all things cold and wintery...

1. If I wanted to live in the tundra and have extremely cold winter weather I would live in the tundra. Until I moved out here to Kentucky (remember I am from the Pacific Northwest), I never had long cold winters. There is a misconception that living in the Pacific Northwest means that I had lots of snow and such. This is false. I lived on the Columbia River Gorge...we had wind, freezing rain, and ice. We rarely had snow. According to my parents, they only recall two times since I've been born when they had more than 8" of snow. Once the winter I was a baby (Jan 1980) they got snowed in and then again when I was very little we had 20" I guess. I remember NEITHER of these. LOL. Needless to say, getting use to the frigid winters here that we have been having since I moved here is a challenge. But getting use to these sub-zero temps...well I DON'T want to get used to them. They need to go back to the tundra where they belong.

2. I LOVE super deep snow. Prior to this snowstorm we had earlier to this week, the only time I can remember being in more than 10" of snow, was when we would go tubing or skiing on Mount Hood. We used to do that every New Years Day growing up. I loved the deep snow...and I have enjoyed it this week too! We got 12" Monday and then about 4 more inches on Wednesday morning. 

3. There comes a point when cold is just cold and frigid is just frigid. When it comes to negative temperatures, I find there isn't a lot of difference between -10 and -20. It feels the same. FRIGID. I mean, when someone says it's "dangerously cold"--well, they could mean ZERO or -15 degrees or -20 degrees. It's all dangerous at that point! LOL! I'm sure I feel JUST as cold at -15 as my friends do at -20...we are bundled up the same and avoiding the outdoors just the same. LOL.

4. Thanking God for our woodstove. I have never been so grateful for wood heat as I have been the last couple years. The temps have gone well below zero the last few winters and having the wood heat has saved us A LOT of money. I remember what our electric bills were with just normal winters and our furnace! We were pushing $250+ per month during those months. With this sub-zero weather, I can imagine we would have pushed it even further! And you know even with a furnace, you never really get warm to the bone like you do with wood heat. Yep, I love wood heat.

 5. I am ready for spring. I have gotten my big snow, so now it's time for it to go away and let me start having spring. I have a feeling though--spring is going to be a late bloomer this year. I think I will have to do quite a few seedling greenhouses this year. I already have one to start my tomatoes and herbs. Next week I hope to get it started...and we will be placing our seed order this weekend! I love the beginning of spring out here. So many of the trees are deciduous and when they start getting their leaf buds, they just start looking so alive! Not only that, but I love being out here in farm country in early spring when all the baby animals start arriving! Our baby calves begin to make their appearance and they are just so cute!

Winter has come. Now it's time for it to leave. Winter brought a lot of beauty--for there is nothing quite so lovely as a blanket of snow in the stillness of a snowfall, surrounded by skeleton trees dusted with snow or glistening with ice. When the sun hits it, it is DAZZLING! But, I am ready for spring. I need to be able to be outside enjoying the land we live on...and I need to be able to send the boys OUTSIDE without fear of frostbite! LOL!

But we will be bracing ourselves for another round of winter storm weather this weekend...will the predictions of 3-5" of snow be accurate? Will we get the promised freezing rain? I will let you know!