Winter in ND. A major highlight in my life: the cable company got out here and upgraded my service. I have been on basic-basic: no ESPN. No Monday Night Football. Cruel and unusual punishment. All is well now, and I watched last night. So awesome to gaze at Jon Gruden once again and just in time for the final games and then playoff season.

Go Broncos….

Moving on to fascinating weather topics: I have experienced a new-to-me weather phenomena. The winter air is often humid; recently I wrote about the frosty trees. I also learned that the moisture can and does freeze on the sidewalks and pavement, leaving a thin layer of white and black ice. This super slick ice is treacherous and remains, often on top, of the ice that formed weeks ago. I pulled out my Yak Tracks and have been able to move around in safety. Well, except one day when I rushed out to get something from the van, wearing slippers. I slipped in my slippers, of course, but landed on my most padded part so all is well, and I learned an important lesson.

As I go here and there, around town, I notice that everyone here does a special walk, which I now call the Wishek Shuffle. This involves taking teeny tiny steps, one in front of the other. Step, step, step after tiny step, deliberately slow, head down to lower center of gravity. No need to rush around with ice everywhere.

Duck doing the Wishek Shuffle

The flooring/carpet will be finished in a few days. I have set up the dining room and my office and it looks awesome around here. The main bath is getting a new toilet, new counter/sink and a shower head. After that, a new washer/dryer arrives. I must have been a very good girl this year to benefit from the home redo and  new appliances. I guess it depends on how you define “good”.

Oh yes…my other winter topic is the bird feeders. The birds are eating everything I put out and looking around for more. I ordered a case of suet blocks for them after they went through three last week. I am still hunting for a snowy owl. Pheasants–outside of town– are so bountiful and now even ordinary.

Weltanschauung was word-of-the-day not long ago. I was tickled to learn something in German, since Wishek folks are Russian German. Weltanschauung means “worldview”. It entered English in 1860. A crazy sample sentence:

“There’s nothing in our Weltanschauung, carefully considered, that could object to a masculine eros.”
— Jonathan Littell, translated by Charlotte Mandell, The Kindly Ones, 2009

So, nothing to offer but chattiness. I feel that after Christmas my writing muse will return (or maybe she is down south for the winter).