Saturday, March 12, 2011

Remember the PTA Bottle Drive, this morning, and....


.. don't forget to

SPRING AHEAD


TONIGHT!

******

33.9 degrees at 7:45, and a bit of light snow fell during the night.



From WKTV: "Rain and snow showers are in the cards for Saturday. A cold front drives through on Sunday, perhaps bringing a few snow squalls.

Cooler, sunny weather on Monday, before a significant warm up is expected by mid next week."

**************************

GOOD NEWS

Jamie Dowd, quoted in an article in this morning's Observer-Dispatch:

At roughly 10 a.m. Friday, Oriskany Falls native Jamie Dowd was in the unenviable position of driving toward a 3½ -mile tunnel connecting San Francisco and Oakland, Calif.

“They didn’t issue any stops on it, and it’s kind of discretionary, but do you really want to be under water with a possible tsunami coming?” Dowd said during a telephone interview.

Though disruption in the Bay Area was minimal, Dowd said residents were taking caution. People there are used to the earthquakes, but they’re also leery about the onset of a major disaster, he said.

“Everybody panics,” he said. “Watching the news makes you do so. I’ve lived in California for 10 years, at least through a couple earthquakes. The big one’s going to hit sometime.”

“They’re saying ‘don’t panic, follow instructions,” Dowd said. “And then every once in a while, they’ll say, ‘This is crazy. There is no historical data on how to operate if we did have something catastrophic.’ There are two bridges and one road to get out of the fourth largest city in the country.”

Dowd, 32, went to Waterville High School and in 2002, he moved to California, where he works in the biopharmaceuticals industry, doing sales and recruiting."

*********************


From Peter Bocko, in Tokyo:

"Yes, we (my wife Andrea & I) are fine. It was quite a shake. You get used to the tremors here, but this was something else in its intensity and duration. I was in my office building corner office and at the worst could not stand up. We are surrounded by 40-50 storey buildings and the amount they were swaying from my window was absolutely surreal. The ANA InterContinental hotel was in a twisting mode. Generally people in the office were tense, but very calm. I was issued a hard (hat) when I first moved to Tokyo and put it on. Heavy aftershocks continued for hours. I have not seen any physical damage here in Central Tokyo excepts some popped ceilng tiles in the office and lamps in my apartment were knocked over (and precious smuggled 150 3-way bulbs broken). Of course the city is a mess transportation wise, most trains are not running and most flights are canceled." A graduate of WCS, Peter Bocko joined Corning in 1979 and was appointed Chief Technology Officer - Japan in October 2007.

********************

As many people have remarked,

"It's that sort of disaster that reminds us how small our problems are!"



Part of ending Winter and starting Spring is "flooding" .............




Loomis Road is closed and the Route 12 Underpass is creating a real slow-down as drivers crawl through the pond, there, not really knowing how deep it is.

***********


ELSEWHERE, ON HIGHER GROUND



"Maggie" set a rapid pace for Lou and Karen .........


........... and the coaches sported Springtime running gear.



Deer ventured from woods next to Fuess Cleary Road to enjoy munching on something (nearly) green.



Two by two by two, Canada Geese strolled along rows of corn stubble next to Osborn Avenue ........



................ and more geese paddled companionably on a nearby pond with a pair of mallard ducks.

******************

FOR THE RECORD



Have a good weekend, everyone!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Blogger reporting in!


My Thanks to ALL of you who sent me your Good Wishes: they worked!


Less than 24 hours after cataract removal and new lens implant, which took all of ten minutes. No pain; just a lttle blurriness, this morning, and I'm wearing glasses that I "outgrew" six or eight years ago! My daughter, Allison was great - nurse, chauffeur, chief cook & bottle washer. She just got on the road heading back to Ballston Lake and I can even drive starting this afternoon!!!!

Modern medicine and Dr. Pat Costello: a wonderful combination!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Aftermath with Add-on pix


I erred when I wrote, yesterday, that CVS was closed: actually, CVS' front store was open at 8 am and the manager was there to run register. The pharmacy did open at 9:15, but the parking lot didn't get plowed until late morning and employees had to park across the street!

Down in Sangerfield, for the first time EVER, Sangerfield Auto and Tire
stayed closed all day!

**********


My driveway



I was lucky. Between Rich Burdick, the Hildreths and Tom Stiles, I've got all sorts of open driveway and sidewalks. This lady, however, on Sanger Avenue, was looking at a full day's work.


The intrepid "Bobcat" - or one of them* - was boring its way up the West side of Sanger Avenue, some of the opposite side's sidewalks already having been cleared ....



as well as those on East Main Street and all around the fire house.


Hydrants, too, get top priority when it comes to digging out and, once again,


........... the village DOT was going through it's scoop-and-dump maneuvers ------ something it's been practicing quite a good deal, this Winter!

**************
Here's another "Don't Forget!"


AT THE LIBRARY


Johnston School of Irish Dance * Friday, March 11th @ 6pm

Bring the whole family to see a wonderful Irish dance performance from the girls of the Johnston School of Irish Dance.
Come early to get good seats!

Kids will also be able to make an Irish craft before the performance.

**************************

*I looked to see if there was another name for a "group of cats:" Clowder, Clutter, Pounce, Dout, Nuisance, Glorying, Glare.

I think I'll just keep calling them "Bobcats!"


______________________________

Now it's GARBAGE DAY.

It's 11.7 degrees at 6:30


WKTV's forecast: "After yesterday's heavy snowfall, it's only fitting that we start out this morning bitterly cold. Temperatures in the single digits will quickly rise into the teens and 20s by late morning. Some high cloudiness will stream in from the west and mix with sunshine today. Dry weather will prevail and temperatures will be a tad warmer in the afternoon. Highs are expected to be in the mid 30's.

Clear skies tonight but not as chilly with lows in the teens and single digits.

Sunshine gives way to clouds on Wednesday, with highs climbing to near 40. Snow showers are possible late in the day, with a breeze picking up throughout the afternoon.

The next in a series of weather waves will arrive later Wednesday and Thursday with the potential for a mix of precipitation."


IN THE NEWS
From this morning's Observer-Dispatch

"Proposed School Aid for 2011 - 2012"

Waterville Central School District

Total 2010-2011 funding: $8,984,884
Proposed 2011-2012 funding: $8,253,649
Difference: $731,235
Percent drop: 8.14



The preliminary 2011-2012 School budget will be a topic at tonight's School Board Meeting.
The public is encouraged to attend.

The meeting begins at 6:30 in the Jr/Sr cafeteria.

***************


IN THE MAIL



I'm pretty sure that the sun was NOT shining when this Sangerfield plow took the turn from Madison Street to S. Bogan road and ..........

Uh-oh!

******************
Meanwhile, on top of Sanger Hill on S. Brothertown Road at the Pavlot residence: "Look! There's a truck with a plow!"


But it's not going anywhere!

************

I didn't go anywhere either, yesterday, because:

#1. I didn't need to, and
#2. although my driveway was plowed,
my long sidewalk
from house to garage was NOT.

(I had told Tom Stiles not to bother 'til today.)


BUT, around 4:30, something very special and thoroughly
unexpected happened:


Aubrey Hildreth delivered my

GIRL SCOUT COOKIES
(Thin Mints!)

I took me a few seconds to realize that she and her dad, Jody,
had actually shoveled their way to my back door!




(and not just to deliver the cookies!)

What a fine thing to do!



You can see that the snow at my back steps was deep .......


After they left, with my hugely enthusiastic Thanks,
I stuck a four-foot "yard stick" into the snow right next to the path:
the new snow was


almost 27" deep.

****************************

Earlier in the day, Jody had spent time taking these outstanding photographs of birds either in a field right next to Osborn Avenue or at a bird feeder in his yard.




Horned lark

(See the horns?)



Snow bunting



Redpoll




Cardinal



a Cooper's Hawk who thought that Jody's bird feeder was there just to provide his lunch!

As always - Thank You, Jody, for sharing your pictures with us!


****************

I'm not sure whether or not to thank the vacationing blog reader who sent this:


He meant well, I'm sure!

**********************************

Have a good day, everyone!

Don't Forget ....

Shrove Tuesday
ANNUAL PANCAKE SUPPER
at
GRACE CHURCH PARISH HALL
(Babbott Avenue Entrance)
5 - 7 pm

Tuesday, March 8
$5 per person, $10 per family

Menu includes:

pancakes with maple syrup,
sausage links,
scrambled eggs,
applesauce,
gingerbread with whipped cream,
coffee, tea, Hawaiian punch
and milk.

For the Benefit of the
WATERVILLE AREA AMBULANCE

************************************************


I'll be back later in the week.

Monday, March 7, 2011

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS & ADD-ONS

There will be NO GARBAGE COLLECTION today!

All collections will be postponed one day, just like a Monday-holiday week.

also

VILLAGE BOARD MEETING HAS BEEN POSTPONED

UNTIL NEXT MONDAY, THE 14TH

*************


From Sheri Brennan -

"On a day like today - I am so thankful that I only had to drive 2 miles to work today (and that took me over 20 minutes) and that Mr. Bob had a path shoveled for Karen and I to get into school. Let's all remember all the people out there who didn't have the option of staying home today - and pray their travels are safe and if you see one of our "outside workers" (farmers, mailman, NYSEG boys, and many more) - make sure to tell them THANK YOU for everything they do for us!"

***********************

Many of us have heard the postal carriers' motto in one form or another. One popular version is "Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep the postmen from their appointed rounds". See below.*

As of 10:45

Dollar General and CVS have not opened

BUT

Postal Carriers ARE OUT on their "appointed rounds!"



*************************

Patty Harding Ford shares this picture of Mike's "Bobcat" working to clear out their Shanley Road driveway. (Thanks, Patty!)



**********

- and here are Missy and Wayne Brouillette's cars!





**********


From Denise Jaquays-Tarbox: "This AFTER cleaning out our own driveway! Tim had his work cut out for him this morning...the plow couldn't touch it!


For local snowfall amounts, click HERE
and then click on "snowed in."

*********

Just in, from Mark Masca:

"Hey Flip!

GREAT blog today! I really felt for a moment that I was back home and with a little bit of a chill in the air here in Key West (72) I really felt it....OK OK, I know I Know it's 72 here shut up Mark! :))

Anyway I wanted to reach out when I saw the pictures and remind folks to look after your neighbors who may not be able to get out and who may not have enough to eat or maybe they're just plain cold...if it's cold for me at 40 years old and 72 degrees think what it may be for an elderly neighbor. Also, please please don't forget your dogs and cats.

OK, with all that said...I wanted to share a link with you. It's

Teens4Oceans (beautiful pix!)

and what you'll see is under the sea. here in the Florida keys. gosh that all rhymes!

Enjoy the link and all the snow...please keep it up there.

XOXO

Mark Masca

**********************



Yay! Rich Burdick's here!



But .................. there's no more room!

I shouted "Thank You! and he said,

"Be careful if you go out - the roads are all ice!"


Good advice for all!

********

*The original saying was actually "Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these courageous couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" and was said about 2500 years ago by the Greek historian, Herodotus. He said this adage during the war between the Greeks and Persians about 500 B.C. in reference to the Persian mounted postal couriers whom he observed and held in high esteem.

The reason it has become identified with the U.S.P.S. is because back in 1896-97 when the New York City General Post Office was being designed, Mitchell Kendal, an employee for the architectural firm, McKim, Mead and White, came up with the idea of engraving Herodotus' saying all around the outside of the building. From that time on the saying has been associated with U.S. postal carriers.


*****************

At 12 noon. The sun is shining!

Snow Day!



It's 20.5 degrees at 6:30.

GARBAGE DAY

*******

SCHOOL'S CLOSED!

No surprise, looking at the amount of snow on my back steps.



It's been a long time since I've woken up to THIS.

I think it's what's usually referred to as a touch of

"good old-fashioned Winter!"



It's nearly up to the two-foot mark on my "snow stake."



The picnic table is buried ..........



................ and the snow is exactly 19" deep on a part of my little front porch that was bare, yesterday.

******************************


Here is the list of closings from the WIBX radio 950:

Adirondack CLOSED
ARC Oneida-Lewis CLOSED
Brookfield CLOSED
Camden CLOSED
Canastota CLOSED
Children’s Corner in Rome
Chittennango CLOSED
Clinton CLOSED
Colgate University OPEN AT 11
Dolgeville CLOSED
Edmeston CLOSED
Frankfort-Schyler CLOSED
Fulton-Montgomery Comm. College OPEN AT 12
Gospel Light Christian Academy CLOSED
Hamilton Central CLOSED
Hamilton College
HCCC OPEN AT 11
Herkimer CLOSED
Herkimer County BOCES CLOSED
Holland Patent CLOSED
Holy Cross in Oneida CLOSED
Ilion CLOSED
Little Falls CLOSED
Lowville Academy
Madison CLOSED
Madison Oneida BOCES (Verona) CLOSED
Messiah Academy
Mohawk CLOSED
Mohawk Valley Christian Academy CLOSED
Mohawk Valley Montesorri
Morrisville State College OPEN AT 11
Morrisville-Eaton
Mount Markham CLOSED
MVCC Rome
MVCC Utica
New Hartford CLOSED
New York Mills CLOSED
Notre Dame CLOSED
Oneida City CLOSED
Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES CLOSED
Oppenheim-Ephratah CLOSED
Oriskany CLOSED
Owen D. Young CLOSED
Piseco CLOSED
Poland CLOSED
Raquette Lake
Remsen CLOSED
Richfield Springs CLOSED
Rome Parochial CLOSED
Rome Public CLOSED
Sauquoit Valley CLOSED
Sherburne-Earlville CLOSED
South Lewis CLOSED
Stockbridge Valley CLOSED
SUNY IT
SUNY Morrisville
Town of Webb 2 HR DELAY
Unadilla Valley
Utica College OPEN AT 10
Utica Parochial CLOSED
Utica Public CLOSED
Utica School of Commerce DAY CLASSES CANCELLED
Vernon-Verona-Sherrill CLOSED
Waterville CLOSED
West Canada Valley CLOSED
Westmoreland CLOSED
Whitesboro CLOSED

ST LUKES MEALS ON WHEEL CANCELLED
ST ELIZABETH SCHOOL OF RADIOLOGY CLOSED
NEW HARTFORD SENIOR CENTER CLOSED
SNOW EMERGENCY – ILION

It's very gusty and still snowing, I believe.

From WKTV: "*Winter storm warning in effect for all of Central New York*

Heavy snow continues to fall this morning, with poor visibility and difficult driving conditions. An additional 2-4" will fall between 5-9 AM. Total snowfall for many areas in Central New York will exceed a foot by later this morning. A return to sunshine by this afternoon, with temperatures staying a few degrees below freezing. Sunshine returns in force on Tuesday followed by unsettled but warmer conditions by mid week. High temperatures will climb into the 40s later in the week.



***********

I remember this bit of a poem by Emerson;

"Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,

Arrives the snow; and, driving o'er the fields,
Seems nowhere to alight; the whited air

Hides hills and woods, the river and the heaven,

And veils the farm-house at the garden's end.
The sled and traveller stopped, the courier's feet
Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit

Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed

In a tumultuous privacy of storm."

**********





The snow held off long enough for the Heart Run & Walk in Utica, and - once again - Coach Roger's Team was there! Jennifer Neff sent me these pictures and wrote,

"Coach Roger's Team walked in the Heart Walk and Run on behalf of my dad, Roger Nichols, who suffered heart attacks and underwent open heart surgery in January, 2009. This year we had 26 people walking on his team including three of his four grandchildren."



Roger, with his grandchildren, Jacob, Ali and Paige.

(Thank you, Jenn!)

******************************

THIS WEEK

Shrove Tuesday
ANNUAL PANCAKE SUPPER
at
GRACE CHURCH PARISH HALL
(Babbott Avenue Entrance)
5 - 7 pm

Tuesday, March 8
$5 per person, $10 per family

Menu includes:

pancakes with maple syrup,
sausage links,
scrambled eggs,
applesauce,
gingerbread with whipped cream,
coffee, tea, Hawaiian punch
and milk.


For the Benefit of the
WATERVILLE AREA AMBULANCE

(Alas. Once again, there is no Pancake Race scheduled.)

**************************

AT THE LIBRARY

Knit 2gether * Every Tuesday @ 7pm
For all of the want to be knitters, beginners, advanced or anywhere in between.
This is a weekly meeting where you can come relax, chat and knit with fellow knitters.

Kids Club * Every Wednesday @ 3:15pm
Ages 5-11 | Drop In *2nd-6th can be dropped off
March 9th - Happy Birthday Dr.Suess! Celebrate all of his crazy characters with cake, games and silliness!

SPECIAL EVENT!

Johnston School of Irish Dance * Friday, March 11th @ 6pm
Bring the whole family to see a wonderful Irish dance performance from the girls of the Johnston School of Irish Dance. Come early to get good seats!
Kids will also be able to make an Irish craft before the performance.

*************************



NEXT WEEK


St. Patrick's Day Dinner

C.J. Fulmer Post #92 American Legion, Waterville.

SATURDAY, MARCH 19TH

4:30 - 7:30 P.M.

Corned Beef, Cabbage, and all the Fixin's!

$9.00 per person.
Route 20, Waterville. 841-4987

***************



I think it was last Thursday that the sun shone and the state DOT was cleaning up what everyone hoped were the last of the snowbanks near the underpass .......


............ and a bright Spring wreath appeared on Mrs. Lloyd's Maison Street door.

**********************

On Saturday, the temperature rose to the high 40s, and as snow melted, water rose, everywhere.


Mary Ann Younes sent me several pictures, yesterday, of "Big Creek," that runs behind our homes on Buell Avenue. In the first, the creek is the peaceful little brook about which Kate Loftus Welch wrote:

"Willona Creek goes singing still
North from the town of Waterville,
With sweeps and curves through meadows fine,
Fringed with fern and columbine."



Yesterday, however, the stream roared like a river .........



............... and a wet snow began to fall, again, in the afternoon.



At the "dugway," south of Clinton, the Oriskany had overrun its banks.


The low spot on Sally Road had turned into a lake .....


.......... the Sangerfield River was threatening to overflow onto Loomis Road .........



and the Route 12 underpass, south of Waterville, was flooding, too.



The Sangerfield plow was on the road, early, and has no doubt been at work all night!

I gather, from listening to the scanner, that there are portions of several roads closed.

This, surely, will be a good day for those who work in New Hartford and Utica to take the "scenic route" through Clinton!

It's going to be a while before I can get "out," so - if any blog readers who are "up" in the village can send me snow-scene photos, I'll be glad to post them!


***********************

FOR THE RECORD


*******

Yes: I went to the grocery store yesterday!

I am scheduled to have cataract surgery at Faxton on Wednesday morning. 'Til then, I think that I'll have plenty of time to read Snowbound, by John Greenleaf Whittier!

Have a good day, everyone!