Well, I’m officially at death’s door.  Not to be too morbid or anything.  Naturally we celebrated at HQ, The Tavern.  We also dropped in on Spooky the bookstore cat, and other usual YS haunts.  I got some good bourbon.  E baked me this fabulous coconut cake.  I got to talk to my brother and my son.  I received some lovely gifts.  So, not bad for an old decrepit corpse.

This will be one of my last posts as a sexagenarian.  It sounds a lot sexier than it is!  Any doubts as to my state of decrepitude will be laid to rest (hopefully not literally) in a few days.  I feel like I should be putting my affairs in order as they used to say, but instead I’m just killing time as usual.  What else can one do, besides accept it and drink to it?  Cheers.  Don’t expect any selfies, other than of Misu The Adorable, who has perfected the art of aging photogenically.

Today’s medical accomplishment (one of many we had put off) was ordering prescription glasses (distance and reading) for both of us.  Yes, the exciting life of falling-apart oldsters.  Fortunately at least one of us can afford all the procedures and prescriptions, thanks to being old enough for Medicare Advantage.  That’s the only advantage to aging I can see.

Here are two views from my office.

Even this Aquarian has a hard time appreciating water in its frozen forms.  We’re still surrounded by blinding snow and ice, with no thaw(or plow trucks) in sight.  The trash collectors couldn’t even brave it this week.

I feel like a popsicle in suspended animation.  I don’t need a weather-groundhog to know which way the arctic wind blows.  “Milltown Mel” actually dropped dead before his forecast–no doubt from shock or freezing to death.

And yet–this crazy robin has been perching in the hawthorn (?) tree out front–does s/he know something we don’t, or is it brain freeze?  And my frosty salad bar on the freezing porch somehow manages to thaw now and then.

The good news is, I’ve started reading again, making up for lost time by devouring books I buy used at our local indie bookstore.  Trying to keep my own brain freeze at bay.

We may have dodged the worst of these winter storms, but what we got was fairly formidable–a thick layer of frozen sleet, then snow for what seems like days, with temps sinking into single digits and a wind chill of negatives.

Wouldn’t you know it, we had to drive to a medical appointment at the crack of dawn, scheduled a while back.  Fortunately, not many people were on the roads, including snowplows, and some cars had gone off-roading into snowdrifts, so we were able to safely test-drive the new Subaru in deep icy snow.  We made it, unlike many of the staff and patients.  Long story short, we finally got our eyes checked and eyeglasses prescribed, before we lose our sight altogether and can’t drive at all!  And yay, we don’t need any surgery…yet!

Here are some icy scenes from last night and this morning.  The fenced-in area is Wright-Patterson AFB, with huge  military aircraft parked near hangars.  Later, a nice neighbor came by with his big snow machine and insisted on clearing our driveway and sidewalks for free.  We were appreciative.

It’s been freakishly cold here, with a big winter storm supposedly on the way, yet today was 55º, go figure, so we took advantage of our balmy reprieve, and walked Charleston Falls, home of Thorny Badlands.

It was worth it.  The frozen waterfalls were so magnificent, it took our breath away.  We’ve never seen them quite so spectacular.  Note the ice cave formed by the dazzling ice stalactites.

Elsewhere in the park, snow was starting to melt on the prairie paths, as were the frozen streams and pond.  Notice the big warning sign not to walk out on the unsafe icy pond, and all the human tracks ignoring it!  Dumb humans.

One of the many perks of buying a new Subaru is the optional free session with a rep to provide a guided tour of your car’s systems and operation (lots of fun new tech features), and to answer all your questions.  This was performed thoroughly and commendably at our local dealership today, well worth the venture into the frigid freezer.  We were  able to pick up an ordered accessory at the same time, and the parts dept. even followed up promptly and personally to make sure E was satisfied with it.

Not to sound like a Subaru commercial, but love!!  The difference between a typical Subaru dealership and the TN one is like night and day.  It’s part of the reason E, a retired, loyal GM employee, ended up choosing Subaru, because of the superior dealership customer service, going above and beyond.  And that’s during a pandemic.

Naturally we had to adjourn to Yellow Springs, to do a little “necessary” shopping and lunch at HQ.  YS, though not perfect, is still safer and less risky to visit than most places during COVID, with its village-wide precautions.  We dropped by Dark Star Books, where I stocked up on used books and visited with Spooky the bookstore cat, seen here lounging atop the comics.  Here is the “now-famous” view from the Tavern’s back room, with lingering snow, and a brown beer.

My brain (and the rest of me) is too frozen to think of a caption for this bleak, snowy deep freeze.  The only consolation is knowing the deep south and other normally warmer places are feeling it, too!  Not that reassuring, knowing climate change is no respecter of location or denial.  It’s a bipartisan, equal opportunity destroyer.

Wednesday was a rare break between arctic blasts, so after my first cardiologist visit in years (I still appear to have a heart), we took a walk in Koogler Wetland Prairie Reserve.  All was melting snow and mud, but we were happy to see all the new boardwalks and improvements by volunteer groups.  There were some definite signs of recent beaver action, also helpful in preserving and creating natural wildlife habitats.  Here are a few scenes.

Now it’s back to the teens and single digits, i.e. hibernation…until the next new doctor in a long string of specialists that I’ve put off for too long.  Aagghh I’m turning into my parents!  So many ways to die, but maybe I can delay the inevitable.

Yes, it’s been a while, in case you’ve noticed.  Nothing much to say in cold storage, a.k.a. hibernation.  I just curl up in a ball and wait for spring–if there is a spring.  No telling these days.

I find it hilarious, albeit strange, that this latest wintry storm bypassed us for the most part and slammed the deep south, including TN, on its way up the coast.  I can imagine the shock and panic!  No, climate change isn’t a thing!  Meanwhile, everyone’s spreading and dying of COVID, also not real.  Just stay home, dummies, or at least use protection.  It’s not that complicated.

Here’s what passes for snow in SW Ohio!  Even Misu is amused.  My mini-“salad bar” is not, though. It’s been in the teens and even single digits outside for days, weeks, I’ve lost track.  How do people live like this?!  Well, back under I go.