Well, the blizzard tentatively predicted last week did not materialize. We had the wind and the cold (very cold), but not the snow. Now there's another winter storm watch out for starting tonight. Not blowing snow, as far as I understand, but frozen rain and snow. That will make for horrendous driving. It will be good weather for staying inside.
When I saw the prediction I thought I'd better run to the store again to stock up. But when I started to think of a list, I realized I am still pretty stocked up from last week. There are a few things it would be nice to have but not enough to make it worthwhile to drive to the store. To paraphrase some designer or other, "Take no drive that you do not know to be useful or believe to be enjoyable." I'm a great one for staying home. It's what I've longed for every morning since fifth grade.
As long as I have enough coffee, I'm good. I will hope for no power outage, although even that I can live through. I fortunately live in a neighborhood where we don't get many outages, even when lots of other areas do, and, when we do lose power, it doesn't usually last long.
There was an era in my lifetime when, after a power outage, I had to go reset the time on my microwave, alarm clock by my bed, television or video player, and sometimes even my coffee maker. Now there are just two clocks in my home. One is my phone, which is not affected by a power outage. The other is my Zaanse clock, which likewise is not affected. It runs on weights, gears, and a pendulum. It does lose about 10 minutes a week, so that I have to push the minute hand ahead every Saturday when I also pull the chains to bring the weights back up. That clock is not for accurate time-keeping but for chiming and contributing to the homely ambiance.
My folks bought this clock while they were stationed in the Netherlands (with the U.S. Air Force). It is not any super-valuable antique but it has sentimental value for me.
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