Fresh off their vacation, the scurs are chomping at the bit to see what the Weather Eye has in store for the 2nd full week of the New Year. Will it stay March-like or march back into winter? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-teens and lows in the upper single digits. Thursday, partly sunny with highs in the mid-20’s and lows near 20. Mostly cloudy on Friday with a slight chance of evening snow showers. Highs around the freezing mark with lows in the low 20’s. Saturday, mostly cloudy with highs in the low 30’s and lows in the low 20’s. Partly sunny for Sunday with highs in the low 30’s and lows in the mid-20’s. Monday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the mid-20’s. Mostly cloudy for Tuesday with highs in the mid-30’s with lows in the upper teens. On the 10th, we will have gained 15 minutes of daylight since the winter solstice, most of that being tacked on in the evening or actually late afternoon. The sun will set at 4:56 and will start setting after 5 p.m. on the 14th. Lucky us! The normal high for the 10th is 20 and the normal low is 4. Heading into what is generally considered the coldest part of the year, the scurs will throw another log on the fire.
Last week at the ranch ushered in the New Year and with it some ringing out the old as well as trying to keep some of it. For instance, our resident male cardinal decided it was a good idea to fly into the pole shed, noisily chirping while flying between rafters. The cats watched his every move. Even with the overhead doors being partially open he refused to leave. I opened the south door all the way up and hoped for the best. By evening chore time he was nowhere to be found so wasn’t positive if he’d made it out or had become cat food. The next morning he was back in his usual spot chirping at me, so at least that was a relief.
I catch a lot of flak from Mrs. Cheviot about my chore time apparel, in particular my chore coat. Granted, I am not nattily attired although my main goal is to stay warm. Besides, the sheep really don’t care if I look like a fashion plate. As long as they get food on their plate, er, in their manger that’s their primary concern. The coat is just going to get dirty and ripped up anyway, so what’s the point? I come by it honestly however. My Mom used to wear some pretty interesting chore time get ups back in the day. The military coveralls she wore had to be my favorites. When they became ripped or torn, she’d get out the sewing machine to patch them up and get some more mileage out of them. The process repeated itself many times over the years.
I finally relented and grudgingly swapped my good old chore coat out for its replacement. Even I had to admit, the chore coat had perhaps seen its better days. An old seed corn jacket, it was greasy, dirty, as well as ripped and torn on the quilted sleeves revealing the batting. The pockets also dangled like oriole nests out the front in plain view. It served me well and amazingly enough, the zipper still worked. The coat’s replacement was one I’d worn for many years for work, heavy duty and just plain heavy. The cuffs on the sleeves were becoming tattered so for wearing in public, it probably needed to be replaced. Certainly nothing a little duct tape wouldn’t cure. Best of all, I shouldn’t have to wash it. Just wearing it to the barn every day anyway. At least the zipper on the hooded sweatshirt I wear under it is broken.
Don’t you love it when you make what appear to be wise investments? Last winter for me it was a cab for the 656, so I wouldn’t freeze to death while bucketing snow. Earlier this winter I bumbled across an old (new to me) snow blower a friend had that he wanted to divest of. After having neighbor mechanic Jon go through it to get it operational, I tried it out on some leftover wet snow. It worked great and while the tractor on it isn’t overpowering, it’ll get the job done. That was back in early December. In the back of my mind I suspected purchasing a blower would likely mean I wouldn’t have to use it. So far so good. I told some neighbors about my good fortune and they offered to take up a collection, so I could buy one every year. I should probably buy a lottery ticket while I’m at it.
For those rock and roll aficionados, January 12th marks the date that Led Zeppelin’s first album was released in the U.S. Later that same year they would go on to release Led Zeppelin II. Rock and roll would never be the same. I still recall in 1970 hearing that the Beatles who had ruled the airwaves throughout much of the late ‘60s were no longer the most popular rock and roll band in the world. They’d been replaced by a band known as Led Zeppelin. Seriously? How could this be? At that time in the hinterlands, one really didn’t hear Led Zeppelin all that often on the AM radio stations. They were busy playing Top 40 singles. Most cars at that time were still running AM radios and 8 tracks were still more common than cassettes. Few, particularly those my age, had stereos yet. That all changed.
With FM stations coming into vogue and playing albums or cuts from albums rather than singles, bands like Led Zeppelin gained major exposure. It was different rock and roll. It had drive, was at times bluesy sometimes with a hard edge, yet at the same time even within the same song could contain a very passive side. Many a young lad would look forward to cozying up to a cute girl at a high school dance when Stairway to Heaven was played. Zeppelin’s music was often loud as well and the vocals weren’t always singing either. Anyone who listened to some of Robert Plant’s guttural moans and howls on those first two albums can attest to that. Tied together with Page’s guitar riffs, John Paul Jones bass & keyboard, not to mention John Bonham’s heavy drumming, it made for many hours of entertainment. Those were also the kinds of things that usually elicited the “Turn that racket off!” response from many an older adult. Ironically, that response is still popular with today’s older adults, some of whom also listened to Led Zeppelin. Those who can still hear anyway.
See you next week…real good then.