What's outside of your picture window today?

Posted by John, Volunteer Mentor @johnbishop, Nov 25, 2020

As we get ready for the real winter to show up and COVID-19 still playing a major part in our lives I like to spend moments of my day de-stressing about what's going on in the world today. All I have to do is look out the window and observe some of natures beautiful creatures, how they interact and ponder how small it makes my troubles seem. Sometimes I may even get the opportunity to take a photo or two. How about you? Anything going on outside of your window(s) that you want to share?

For those members that have the ability to size your photos before you upload them to the discussion, may I suggest using the following sizes:
– 500 x 335 pixels (landscape)
– 210 x 210 pixels (square)

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Lori, Volunteer Mentor | @loribmt | Dec 15, 2022

Well, we don’t have snow but there were not one, but TWO waterspouts off our balcony yesterday! (Gulf of Mexico) It was a crazy weather day.
The video is too big to post so I took a screen shot!

Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Dec 15, 2022

In reply to @johnbishop "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... 🎅" + (show)

Oh, John, I wanted to "Like" but I just couldn't! If I could just stay in and look out at it, but we have to go to appointments in this slop today. About 3 inches of slush in the driveway & still falling.
At least no tornados or thunder snow like others have seen.
Sue

John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Dec 15, 2022

In reply to @sueinmn "Oh, John, I wanted to "Like" but I just couldn't! If I could just stay in..." + (show)

You are so right Sue, wet snow is the pits. I need to get this off the driveway during the lull this morning as we're supposed to get another 3 inches in the next 24 hours. I did my neighbor ladies driveway across the street also as she hasn't put her blower on her lawn tractor yet.

Ginger, Volunteer Mentor | @gingerw | Dec 15, 2022

In reply to @johnbishop "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... 🎅" + (show)

Nice to be inside and look out at it, right?! We have dull gray skies with fog and cold cold, outside. Inside, we are baking cookies for the annual "Cookies and Cocoa" that comes at the end of the Unofficial Light Parade and Santa's visit on Saturday night. Timber trucks, big rigs, utility company trucks, and private citizens decorate their vehicles with lights and music, and take the back road from 8 miles out, into town. The fire department leads the parade, bringing Santa to his little house under the town's lit up Christmas tree. We have hot cocoa and cookies to pass out [mini marshmallows optional!] A local theater group does some dancing for us all. It will be cold, but clear, at least that is the forecast. An annual tradition that is the epitome of "small town".
Ginger

John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Dec 15, 2022

In reply to @gingerw "Nice to be inside and look out at it, right?! We have dull gray skies with..." + (show)

Now that sounds like fun with one small tweak... mini marshmallows are a requirement! 😁

Leonard | @jakedduck1 | Dec 15, 2022

@gingerw
@johnbishop
Oh yes marshmallows are a definite necessity. I'll take the big marshmallows though and a squirt of Carmel and chocolate syrup are a plus and lots and lots of candy and some cakes, pies, donuts and pastry would be good too.

Sunny here like usual, leaves almost all down. Wish I could be there.
Have fun and eat some cookies for me.
Jake

John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Dec 15, 2022

Think I need to put my boots on and go fill the bird feeder
https://youtu.be/pi4rKSq5wdI

Ginger, Volunteer Mentor | @gingerw | Dec 15, 2022

In reply to @jakedduck1 "@gingerw @johnbishop Oh yes marshmallows are a definite necessity. I'll take the big marshmallows though and..." + (show)

Only cookies, Jake! The little coffee house across the street will be open. I'm sure Emily will have chocolate syrup and caramel to add to hot cups of coffee if people want it. For us, we'll have the big cooler of hot cocoa and trays of cookies. You're more than welcome to join us! Ginger

Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Dec 15, 2022

In reply to @gingerw "Only cookies, Jake! The little coffee house across the street will be open. I'm sure Emily..." + (show)

I wish I could. Our celebration begins Saturday with my daughter and I taking the boys to shop for toys to donate to the toy drive at their school. The first grader asked his Mom if we could, and the "almost 4" has already commented to his Mom that some of his friends don't have snowpants and boots, so they can't go out for recess. Tomorrow I will be going to buy out the preschool sizes at TJ Maxx to donate - we did this before Covid too. Also to buy gift cards for the center in our county that helps unhoused kids who have either aged out of foster care or been kicked out by families.
Our family celebration focuses on food and fun, with just a few small, carefully chosen gifts as we all have too many "things" already. We do get/give books and delicious edibles.
Sue

joyces | @joyces | Dec 16, 2022

Hmmm...here, on the Oregon coast there's never supposed to be white stuff on the ground...green is a true Christmas color. However, Wed. was one of the few times I've driven to the Willamette Valley/Portland metro area over the Coast Range and encountered icy conditions. (I've been assigned a 9:00 pickup time at Dave's Killer Bread to pick up 400+ loaves of bread donated to our local Backpacks program. It's ordinarily a two-hour drive each way, but Wed. morning took longer, frayed my nerves. Yesterday, I put my car in 4WD just to get up the steep hill that leads toward what we laughingly refer to here as "downtown." I hope that our trip to the metro area Friday for Christmas at my daughter's will be much smoother. I've driven the highway from the coast to Portland twice a week for over 60 years, and there have only been a half-dozen times when there were icy road conditions. Rain, yes indeed, but almost never ice. My husband lived in Alaska until he went "Outside" to go to college, and even he doesn't like this unusually cold, slippery weather. I've only had snow on the ground here twice in over 60 years...and I'd prefer not to see it here again!

I'm headed "downtown" to do the second day of handing out Christmas food boxes to people in this town who work part-time minimum-wage jobs and have school kids, as part of the Backpacks for Kids program. It feels good to be able to give each family not only a box but several additional bags of good, basic food to keep the kids fed over the winter break! The downside of tourism is that the average income of families with kids in school is so very low here that all kids get free breakfasts and lunches five days a week. Employers here hire people part-time to avoid paying benefits. Imagine being a parent, working two 15-hour-per-week jobs while the other parent does the same...and days and hours for all the jobs change every week!