Category: Miscellaneous Ramblings

As you may know, on Groundhog’s Day our esteemed weather forecaster Punxsutawney Phil did NOT see his shadow and so predicts an early spring.When I heard this news, the thermometer at the Palatial Horvath Estate had not yet topped twenty degrees.  I wondered if perhaps Phil was insane.  I wondered if I’d misheard and/or misunderstood.Then I had a thought.  It took me a moment to recognize it, but a thought it undoubtedly was.  What, I thought, what if Phil is not the only member of the subspecies Marmota monax with the ability to predict the weather?

This opened up some intriguing possibilities.  I decided the only way to be sure was to go talk to the groundhog living under the shed in my backyard.  Perhaps, I thought, he would be able to confirm or disprove Phil’s meteorological observations.  Following is a transcription of our interview.

 

Hello, Mr. Groundhog.

Hey.

What is your name?

I’m Pennsylvania Paul.

Pennsylvania Paul?

I don’t specialize by region.

Uh huh.  I wonder if you happen to know Punxsutawney Phil?

Fifth cousin.

I just heard that he predicted an early spring.

Yeah, me too.  *snorts*  Loser

Ah hah! Vindication!  Are you telling the readers here at Betsy’s Blog–

Readers?

Shut up.  Are you telling us that do NOT agree?  Are you telling us you feel Phil is WRONG?

I’m telling you that’s not what my computer model shows.

Oh.  You, uh, use a computer model?  Not your…shadow?

For God’s sake.  It’s the twenty-first century.  That shadow thing is soooo 1700’s.

But where do you have a computer?

Where do you think?  Under the shed.

Wait!  Under MY shed?

Sure.

How big is that hole anyway?

I don’t think you want to know.

Okay, okay.  *shakes head*  But, Mr. Groundhog–

Call me P.P.

Very well, P. P.  If you disagree with Punxsutawney Phil, perhaps you would give us your own forecast.  Exactly when, P. P., do you think that Spring will come?

Oh, that’s easy.  March 21st.

March 21st?

Sure.  Spring equinox.  Happens every year.

But the weather, P. P.  What about the weather?

I’m thinking it will be be cold for another month or so.  Then it will get warmer.

There you have it folks!  Straight from the mouth of the groundhog living under my shed.  Spring will come on March 21st after it has been cold for another month or so.  Thank you so much, Pennsylvania Paul.

No problem.  Are we done here?  I’ve got to go pull apart some trash bags before I track that Nor’ easter coming in off the coast.

We’re finished and thank you.  Just, um, stay out of my trash.

Sure.

 

 

It’s been a couple of weeks since I updated the blog – sorry about that. The Palatial Horvath Estate, although not on the coast, was in the direct path of Hurricane Sandy. I lost power on Monday night October 29th, and didn’t get it back until Friday night, November 2nd. The Horvath Family Manse, and my elderly mother, lost power on Monday and got it back on Saturday.

We were two of the lucky ones. Many people in the area lost power for significantly longer. Some of them had just gotten it back when they lost it again after the storm on November 7th that slapped the coast with snow.

You never think too much about electricity until you don’t have it for a significant amount of time. My mother and I both have public water, so at least we didn’t have to worry about flushing the toilet, but most other things were dead – including traffic lights and gas stations in our towns.

The Wal-Mart down the street from me never lost power. I find that amusing.

First there was the rain and the wind and the fury. Then it calmed and, with the electricity off, everything was quiet (well, quiet until my neighbor bought a generator and started it up). It was cold – cold enough that I could see my breath in the morning. It was dark. I find that without electricity I immediately switch to more natural sleep patterns – meaning I go to sleep when it’s dark and get up when it’s light. I got more sleep during the time the electric was off than I have in months. Maybe not since the electricity went off for five days last October 29th.

There was a stillness to those powerless days. It was almost an enforced hibernation. A yanking back from the insanity of modern life. Political rants on Facebook did not matter – I couldn’t access the internet until Thursday anyway. Competing ideologies did not matter. Nothing mattered except making sure my friends and loved ones were all right, staying warm, and finding something to eat. The true basics of life.

And what is the aftermath of this impressive storm? The Palatial Horvath Estate and the Horvath Family Manse did not suffer any damage, but many others did. Some people were injured in the storm itself, or in the cleanup.

But for all of us, this can be a time of new beginning. Sandy forced us back to the very basics of life – life stripped of our modern conveniences. Then the modern conveniences came back.

What we do now is up to us.

 

So, today is my birthday. It’s one of those “milestone” birthdays that you either try to ignore, or celebrate intensely to dull the pain.

I’ve gone into a very thoughtful time approaching this birthday, and that’s good. Every once in a while it’s good to look at where you are and where you’re going. It’s just a shame we tend to wait until we’re older to do it. I had so much more energy to deal with this sort of thing when I was twenty.

By the way, I am not turning twenty for my milestone birthday. In case you were wondering.

If you’re like me, you know what you want to do, but you forget that you probably should do it sooner rather than later. Then you hit a “milestone” birthday and reality comes crashing down upon you as you realize how little you’ve actually accomplished. Until the digits click to a new decade, you can forget there’s a time limit on this wacky little thing we call life. When you remember, you can get depressed.

But I’m going to share a secret I’ve been coming to realize over these past few thoughtful days.

As I move into the next year of my life, I do not have to be the way I have been up to now. I am not written in stone. I don’t have to be bound by the same old ways of thinking and acting. I don’t have to remain at the mercy of the same fears and anxieties. I can re-imagine myself, if need be. I might have established a draft of my life, but I can revise it, if revisions are necessary. If I want to, I can be different than who I have been.

I’m beginning to realize that I am not trapped. I have the freedom to change.

Which makes this a very, very happy day. And a “milestone” birthday.

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