Winter continues to step on Spring’s toes.
Your roving reporter did not drop off the face of the Earth, and it sure felt strange not spinning out any posts these last few days.
The weather has really been nothing special and has wreaked havoc with my walking regimen.
Saturday was a torrential rain from early morning and long into the overnight. Sunday began with freezing rain. While the trees and bushes were beautiful to look at with their crystalline branches, the ice brought down power lines and large trees lost branches, or split apart and came crashing to the ground. Before the day was over, almost 400,000 homes or businesses in the Mitten State were without power, 300,000 of them here in Southeast Michigan. Many people are still without power as I write this post and temps are only in the 30s.
Yesterday began with rain as well.
I may be muttering about this spate of nasty weather days, but in reality, I feel blessed to have not lost power like so many others in this city and beyond.
It was not back to my favorite stomping grounds today either, because I had a dentist appointment. I had planned to walk there all along, just as I do for these bi-annual visits. It is about a three-mile round trip. This morning, here in Southeast Michigan we awoke to find Winter had returned … yes Winter, the gift that keeps on giving. The flurries were flying furiously and had already coated the grass and pavement when I stepped out the door to walk to my appointment. The sidewalks were a little slick, so I decided to walk along Fort Street, which was not so safe, but no snow, and I was facing the traffic. Coming home the snow had subsided and I could walk on the sidewalk.
My appointment to get my teeth cleaned was for 9:00 a.m. and my dentist always pops in at the end of the visit for a look-see. I was looking forward to seeing Dr. Kelly, so I could crow about my 1,050 miles walked last year and to see if he accomplished his fitness goal as well. He is a runner and has a unique way of maximizing his miles in the year. Dr. Kelly and a few running buddies set a mileage goal that matches the year. So, last year, they had to run 2017 miles altogether, between the three of them. The trio does not run on a daily basis, but usually fulfills their year-end goal. I saw Dr. Jiddou today since Dr. Kelly wasn’t in because he participated in the Boston Marathon yesterday. Boston was having some crummy weather as well, but Dr. Kelly finished up and sent the staff a shot of him doing a thumbs-up gesture at the finish line.
Tomorrow is a potential walk, then we are getting a few inches of snow tomorrow night, so I’ll fast forward to Friday and a weekend that is promised to be sunny and dry – that’s just great and I can’t wait.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Winter his pass just like Trump!
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Sad weather you have. Here in southern Sweden there have been wonderful weather with temperatures of 70°F. In the middle of the country there is still a lot of snow. There have also been power cuts here, but in the middle part of the country where they still have unstable weather. When I went to school I did not get any dental hours in the morning, because I fell asleep when they checked and repaired my teeth!😁😁😁
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It is sad indeed! We have this icy mess and the occasional snow in April in my part of Michigan, but not usually in May. In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula they got a foot of snow last weekend and they don’t get rid of their snow until late May, even June, but that is very far north of here. You must have had a very gentle dentist to fall asleep in the chair. My dentists have all been very gentle too through the years. Now I go and they have the TV on in each room. I don’t have TV at home as I cancelled my cable years ago and you can’t get TV without cable here unless you have digital TV. I bought a small digital TV about 10 years ago and the image freezes on the screen, even when I bought a flat antenna that was bigger than the tiny TV. I finally gave up on it. So every time I go to the dentist, you can’t talk anyway while they work on you, so I watch TV.
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Oh man! I’ve complained but our weather – moody as it may be – is not as bad as yours! That’s a lot of people without power – good that you’re not affected! Spring needs to get some iron-toed boots and push winter out of the way! 😉
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I so agree with you – tonight we are getting what meteorologists tell us is the “last snow of the season” … fingers crossed tightly that they are right in that prediction!
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Make sure to use high quality walking or running shoes, as you will be paying for it later in life (with physical problems), believe me!
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I will take your good advice as I watched my mom in her pain for many years. She could not stand without her orthopedic shoes on as they fused her feet/ankles so that she had to wear shoes with heels and could not stand flat on the floor. I will tell you that since I started my walking regimen at Labor Day of 2011, my feet look pretty beaten up. There’s no getting round that fact, even though my treat to myself is Thorlos walking socks which I just got new ones last Fall after the original ones wore out. They are padded in the instep, heel and sole and are very comfy for walking. But all that walking does take its toll on you … but in a good way as well.
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Well compared to your winter marathon and your (usual) walking marathon, my complaints are goals are much more modest. I went out earlier with the intention of walking the two VERY long blocks to the big fruit store, but when I got outside it was raining sideways, driven by nasty westerly wind gusts of 50 kmh. So I thought “Nooo!” and instead just went across the street to the *little* (crappy) fruit store, wherein the owner said “Non, trop cher” when I asked Where are the strawberries and blueberries. (I’m addicted to berries; regardless of the season I *must* have them!) “Trop cher” means “too expensive,” so if they were too expensive for the store to buy them wholesale, that means the retail price would’ve been astronomical. Boooo. I want spring!!!!!!
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Sounds like horrible weather, and I sure don’t blame you for staying close by and really that the raised the price because of being out of season. I wonder how the cold in the south will affect the prices of things like peaches and the berries in case the crops were not so bountiful this year. They predicted oranges and orange juice to skyrocket after the freeze in the orange groves. I don’t buy OJ, but do buy clementines all Winter and didn’t find them any more expensive as usual. I love those clementines and eat them to stay healthy all Winter. When my mom was alive, she loved red currants. Her grandparents owned a farm in Ariss, which was near Guelph, Ontario and so they visited every August for two weeks. All the cousins went out berry picking and my great-grandmother would “put up” preserves and make pies. My mom would scour the produce markets for red currants to make at least one red currant pie each Summer. They were also “dear” and cost a pretty penny and you needed a good quart to make a tasty pie as they were so tiny. I want Spring to bad I can taste it and they say tonight’s snow is it for the season, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
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Re out of season, but i see ads that at my supermarket, blueberries and raspberries will be very reasonably priced, so… changes from one week to the next! Never had red currants, were they sweet? I’m big on sweet! 😀
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No, the red currants are very tart … they are an acquired taste and you really wouldn’t want a steady diet of them. I don’t think you’d like them. I prefer sweet berries too.
Rarely do you find red currant preserves or jelly, but my mom would stock up whenever we’d see them at the produce market. Our strawberries won’t be out until mid-May, usually around Mother’s Day when they advertise the strawberry and shortcake fixin’s in the displays in the produce area of the store. Likely, the homegrown Michigan strawberries will be more like 4th of July now, due to this ever-present cold. Ugh.
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You’re right, I wouldn’t like tart berries.
Our stores sell strawberries year-round – out of season they’re from either Mexico, Florida or even Calif. pretty tasteless, but the more spring wears on, the better they are. Best of all are our own, out in July. SO good!
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Yes, by then they are sweet and delicious all on their own. Right now they are tasteless … not ripened by the warmth of the sun.
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I’m so sorry to hear about the power outage in SE Michigan, it makes me wonder how cold their apartments will be considering the outside temperatures.
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I feel so badly for those people Iri. My mom and I had dealt with power outages in the past and stayed at the house during that time period – it was very cold then, just as it has been this week. They have restored power to all but 1% of the people who lost power last Sunday. I have an acquaintenance that I know from the bus when we rode the bus together. She is staying with family and took her food to their house, but as of this afternoon, her power was still not restored. She is keeping the water running in the house, just a warm trickle to keep the pipes from freezing. Luckily we did not get the predicted snow last night – but those poor people.
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You are very nice Linda. I must learn from your acts of charity, the world needs more people like you. 😊♥️
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Thank you for saying that Iri. That is very kind of you.
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You’re welcome. 😊
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Miss Linda…………………………I did walk this morning and it was nice………………………..the mom geese are sitting on their nest in spite of all that ice, rain, and snow and the pond was very high due to all the run-off water……………….close to their nests……………………..I didn’t see the pair of ducks……………I’m wondering where they went or where they go……………..
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Hi Ann Marie – I hope you get to see some of the goslings at your pond and get some pictures. I was able to get out this morning, which surprised me since the weather folks talked about the snow we were getting. I didn’t see any geese at the Park this morning. I know I read somewhere that once the mother goose lays the eggs, she will not budge from the nest at all, until the goslings hatch. I wonder when you’ll see ducklings at the pond? I am thinking once I see goslings and ducklings at Council Point Park, I’ll take a trip to Heritage Park as that pond is so visible and it will be sweet to see the moms and babies.
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