Whew! Made it to week two

Magique and me

It has not been a spectacular first week of 2014. And that is good. After the storms of 2006/2007 which buried our community in six feet of snow I have been thrilled we only got a few snow flurries. It has been entertaining to read about the Arctic Vortex that gobbled up most of the United States. My friends and I have debated just what it is Chicago does with all that snow.

Some things are easy out here in the mountain west. Nobody actually has to remove snow. You just push it into a pile beside the county road or off to the side of your driveway (actually with a front in loader during 2006/2007) and wait for the next warm days to begin to melt it low enough you can pile more on top of it. But off the road in Chicago is a roll of parked cars or the sidewalks people expect to walk on to the bus stop.

And when the temps really dip we just bring in more firewood and keep the wood stove going all day. Crisis is staring at your diminishing wood supply and wondering if you will make it till spring. Yes, the electric bills do go up. Always wonder why when they are the highest the electric coop adds this fuel tax. It is as if we are being punished for using too much.

Biggest crisis of the new year as been the internet and cell phones. There are too many people in town with their smart phones and tablets and laptops trying to stay connected to the people they went on vacation to escape. Some of the internet services have slowed down the feeds for us full time customers. Just wait a minute there!!! We are the ones that pay you month after month, and year after year. Already all us locals avoid all the restaurants, stores and coffee houses because they have been occupied by aliens. And yes, Texas bought up all the snow tires because of their ice storms. I have rediscovered my chains from a couple vehicles ago and they fit my sized tire, but have not needed to use them as I have honed my snow driving skills and we haven't gotten a lot of new snow.

My food supply has lasted. Only needed eggs and a local chicken owner has been selling fresh eggs at a local business where we can sneak in before hours or at lunch, grab our eggs and run. I did run to Santa Fe one day with a friend. It was busy there too but we knew enough about the town, where we shop periodically, to avoid the real trouble spots. I grabbed art supplies and came home to lock myself in the studio. That has proven quite productive.

No significant snow in the future which frankly works for me as long as we have a very wet spring and summer. Christmas tourist season must be over because the power has not gone out in the last few days because of blow dryers. Internet is still loading rather slow, however. Probably us locals making up for all the updates on computer programs we have not been able to do in the last three week.