So I was invited to my brother’s house for dinner this Christmas eve. He had the family traditional meal: Carne con chile, rice, refried beans, tortillas and enchiladas. The same meal I ate every Christmas eve at my parents house.

Since my parents are living far away, it was nice to have the touch of tradition. My brother and his wife, their two daughters and their significant others, and of course, one wayward uncle.

He did a pretty good job of following mom’s recipes as well.

It is nice to see traditions continue.

Merry Christmas, y’all.

Fred the Feral Cat is cold….

And, today, is more feral than most times.

I can’t bring him in with the other cats until I can get a health check, and I can’t do that until I can pick him up. Which he won’t allow.

He returned this morning from wherever he spent last night, cold and unhappy. And ate when I gave him food, but was very wary. Drank a bunch of water as well. It is about zero F outside, but the wind is much less.

He was in the shelter I made for him (which has a heated pad in it) until I opened the door about 10 AM to shovel off the back deck. Then he got all squirrely and ran away…then returned to be close, but wouldn’t enter the shelter and wouldn’t let me touch him. I can’t do more to help him, and he’s unhappy and cold. He’s currently hiding under the deck. Cold.

But that is of his own making, All I can do is what I can do…..”Some Men (and critters) you just caint’ Reach”…so he is cold and less than happy…..

So Denver is “At the breaking point” having to deal with 1300 immigrants…..

That is less than what cities like El Paso, Del Rio and other border cities deal with in a single day.

But the folks in Denver keep voting for Blue politicians who vote for open borders, who create the problems they are complaining about…

If caring for a few thousand immigrants is hurting the city, then perhaps they can imagine what the folks in Arizona and New Mexico and Texas deal with every day….

I hope those border cities ship places like Denver their share of illegal border crossers. I’d gladly contribute to the costs of the busses for that.

Jan. 6 Report Blames Trump, Aims to Prevent Return to Power

Does anyone reading this think that the folks on the committee ever were open minded and objective? That they might want anything besides finding a way to damage Trump’s reputation, to find a way to charge him with a crime or (especially!) keep him from running again?

Look at the folks on the committee….they all, to a man (woman), hated him.

All in all, the entire committee was a waste of their time and our money.

That the local CBS channel felt it was necessary to do a 15 minute lesson how not to get frostbite and the effects of cold weather on the human body and how to prevent it….

Yes, I understand that most of their audience is city folk, but still.

Actual temp is -12F, winds are 25 gusting 40. so wind chills are peaking at -35 or so…

I ain’t going outside unless have to…..not in wind chills of colder than minus thirty. I have the gear for it, but goddamned cold is still goddamned cold….

Keeping the woodstove under control in these winds is ….difficult. tTe draft changes so dramatically in the changing wind, it’s hard to pick a damper setting.  But I am toasty warm, so hey….

More later.

ETA: 10 AM. Temp is up to negative 7, but the winds are gusting to over 50 mph….Still not all that bad though. But I am staying in. have no reason to go out, so why? It is, after all, killing cold outside. Haven’t seen Fred, so I don’t know if he is in his house or not. I am sure he has other places to hide though, cats can handle lots of cold if they are out of the wind. It is what it is. ‘Tis fun watching the drifts grow and then erode away as the wind shifts a few degrees.

ETA: 2 pm. wind gusts  are nearing 60 MPH temp is up to minus 2F. Fred is out wandering around. Hope he is ok.

The first winter “Snowmageddon” has begun. Temp began dropping about 11:00, the humidity condensed on the roads about 11:30, the first snow began about 11:45.

Kinda sleet-ish with a small bit of mist about noon (central)

The temp has steadily declined from 34 at 8 AM to about 27 at 3 PM.

The wind is picking up. We have had about an inch of snow.

Having said that, so far it is a fizzle.

But, like a blind date for a desperate woman, you never know how many inches yer gonna get or how long it will last……

ETA: Temp dropped 9 degrees in an hour, down to 19F at 4PM

ETA2: 10 F at 5 pm. Temp dropping even faster than forecast….but the good news is much less snow. maybe 3 inches.

ETA3: 6 PM: another 10+ degree drop now +7F. Still snowing and windy. 30 MPH

ETA 4: 7 PM winds are 14 gusting 32 4 F. Fred the feral outdoor cat has finally decided to move into the heated box I made for him. He’s out of the wind in the lee of the house  and should be warm enough.

5: 9 PM now minus one F. Down 32 degrees in about 8 hours. Wind is about 40 mph. Maybe 7 inches of snow, but it is blowing all over the place. Vis is about a half mile, maybe.

Was filling the truck up with diesel today and some chick, mid-20’s I’d guess, got out of her car one pump down and she was wearing TWO masks and surgical gloves.

They are still out there.

The sad part is that they get to vote…..

And make them buy supplies to make French Toast?

Today, 12 hours before the first winter storm, there is nary a loaf of bread, a carton of milk, nor eggs to be had in any supermarket.

This happens nearly every time the weather guessers forecast a storm of any magnitude. People buy out eggs, milk and bread.

Is it a cultural thing to make french toast at the height of the storm? Is it a sacrifice to the weather gods? I mean, they don’t buy out lunchmeat and cheese, so they aren’t making grilled sandwiches, Nor are they preparing for a power outage…..Only French Toast supplies. Not meat and vegetables either, nor cereal or peanut butter and jelly. Just eggs and milk and bread.

I really don’t get it.

So Congress might actually ban TikTok from all government devices.….

Except, of course, that ban won’t include MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. 

(Not that the Chinese need to use TikTok to spy on our Congressmen….they own most of them already….)