Here’s to hoping everyone is keeping warm during his beginning of 2018. For those that are not on the east coast of the USA or have not heard of the east coast cold snap, let me tell you about the cold. I heard a joke that will tell you…It is so cold that the US Congressmen does not have their hands in our pockets, they have their hands in their own pockets…I was stationed at two air force bases that, in the winter, was this cold, one was much colder. With the temperature being this cold here, Minot, ND is much colder than when I was there. The normal temperature there, during this time of year, is normally -30 without the wind. I would guess it is colder now than when I was there. The other base was Pease, AFB, NH.

I was also thinking about how this little bit of snow, with the wind and cold, stopped everything. I have been stationed at three snowy bases. Two in the USA and one in Europe. All three places got much more snow than here and the roads were never scraped to the bare pavement, nothing stopped, life went on. Here, one inch stops everything. There are times that a half inch will close everything. Schools will shut down when they hear snow is probable. My daughter was in high school when I was stationed in North Dakota, I don’t recall her missing a day of school because of snow, wind or cold. In fact, every year she wore a snow suit while going door to door for Halloween.

I don’t enjoy the cold. Never have, never will but I just deal with it, I go on. I also look at it another way because of what I was told by a German farmer. He said we need a week or more of a deep winter freeze to kill buried bug larvae in order for us not to be overrun by bugs when spring finally get here. I can understand that and appreciate it also. Let it freeze, let it freeze, let it freeze.

But, don’t be in a Blue Funk, Spring will soon be here. When spring arrive, so will the rain, melting snow from the mountains causing floods. Next come the heat and hurricanes. Every year is the same. Some years fewer of it all, some years there is more. Can’t fight Mother Nature, don’t try. Life goes on, this will come about each year.

Being a senior and retired let a person reminisce of the years of yore. Some young people (I really want to say ‘most’) believe they know or have seen or experienced everything. I secretly laugh at them, they only have to wait a little longer and things they have never thought about will come to fruition. Seniors may not, at times, be wiser but they certainly have been through much more. Being a senior and retired really mean you are close to the end but it also mean you have so much knowledge to pass on and stories to relay. If only someone will listen. It’s cold. Let me go back to reminiscing.