Friday, March 8, 2013

Cabin Fever February

February 8th - 28th, 2013

While I've been taking daily photos, I've not been writing much the past few weeks. February is typically when I get a major case of "cabin fever." I know I am not alone. I also got caught up in reading the last book in a story I've been following for 23 years. "The Wheel of Time" series is a collection of 14 books that I began reading in 1990. As each new book came out I'd reread the series. When this, the final book, came out, I decided to only reread the last three. To that end, I basically let things slide. While I am glad to finally completing the story, it still amazes me that there has been this constant winter time thread for literally half of my life.

Anyway, that is basically why I haven't kept up with writing in this blog. I'm still playing catch up on everything, from photo processing, to house repairs. I have completed processing the photos from the 8th - 28th. Instead of an individual post for each one, I'll just post a bunch, and write about highlights.

02-17-2013
An experimental night shot of the backyard.

We spent a lot of time indoors. It snowed a LOT in February. In fact, it's been years since I've seen snow on the ground for so long. All winter long our yard has been mostly covered. I can think of only a few days where it melted enough to actually see the winter thatch below. Of course, my reading so much meant a lot of my daily photos where of the kid, often around my easy chair...

02-28-2013
02-16-2013 02-21-2013
02-19-2013 02-14-2013

Of course, our new pet Merida helped relieve a lot of the boredom. Not to mention filling in for my absent interaction. I have to admit, I really set aside too much time in order to read those books. The plus side is how closely Freja and this cat have bonded. Another funny thing is how Merida has also bonded with Kitty, Freja's doll cat. She likes to suckle it, and sleeps with it.

02-22-2013 02-18-2013 02-23-2013

While we spent a lot of time at home we, did manage to get out occasionally. We went bowling with the family down the street, and we went to see another neighbor perform at a barn dance. Also a friend's son performed in a local play.


02-09-2013 02-15-2013

Occasionally friends would come over to play.

02-25-2013
02-10-2013

A big difference between winters here, and back in PA, aside from the amount of snow, is how much more sunshine Wisconsin gets. Personally, I don't mind the snow as much if it's sunny out. While we didn't venture out as much a we'd have liked, we did get to spend time playing, and exploring.

02-08-2013
02-13-2013
02-24-2013

Another HUGE difference is that our house is full of little invaders. Boxelder bugs are a constant companion, all day, everyday. They migrated into the house to hibernate last fall. As time passes a few will "wake up." While they don't bite, if you smash them they can leave a red stain. Teri and I have taken to simply ignoring them, vacuuming up the dead bodies when we do chores. Freja, on the other hand, has decided they're not a collection of different bugs, but ONE bug in particular. She's named it "Howard." Howard is her friend, and we're not allowed to kill him.

Meet Howard.

02-11-2013Boxelder bug

Now, to catch up on processing March's photos...