Yesterday’s walk was wonderful – it put a smile on my face.
But today’s trek was just the pits – it put a frown on my face.
Originally, the sleety precip was slated for tonight, but then it kept getting moved back, first to mid-day, then around the 10:00 o’clock hour. I figured I had plenty of time to get my walk in before the ugly weather began.
Sadly, the moon and stars were not in alignment for me like yesterday.
Then, I just got down to the Park, and was still at the parking lot feeding a couple of squirrels, when a few drops fell from above. Though the sky was gray and ugly, I thought maybe one of the many seagulls gliding overhead passed over me. (Sure, I fretted over THAT image, but continued on.) I dropped a few small piles of peanuts along the way while I picked up the pace a little. I passed the bend on the first loop, when the wintry precip began in earnest. It drizzled for just a minute, and that soon turned to graupel, making little pinging noises on my nylon storm coat wherever they landed. That was followed by a band of snow that began swirling around and sticking onto the perimeter path and the grass.
I was at the Park on Christmas Day one year and the same thing happened to me. It was clear as a bell when I arrived, then a snow squall came out of nowhere, and in a matter of minutes, snow was dancing around on the perimeter path, laying a quick coating on the grass. That snow slickened up the path and I remember crossing the Park on the grass to avoid sliding or wiping out. That particular day, I had on walking shoes, not my lug-soled hiking boots. Coming home I had my head down like I was in a blizzard .
Thank goodness it was not that bad this time. I know I missed feeding some of my little buddies, so I wiggled my Ziploc bag so a few would follow me to the pavilion where I could leave some peanuts there. This guy beat me to the punch and his feet and tail were soaking wet.
Walking home, the snowflakes were twinkling down, some of them sticking to the leaves which looked pretty, but most of it was melting when it reached the ground.
Yesterday, I saw these pumpkins on a homeowners property, not too far from Council Point Park. About a week ago, before these pumpkin faces began to cave in and wither, (no doubt helped by squirrels climbing in and nosing around), I happened to notice a tiny red flickering light inside this pumpkin.
Evidently, there was a battery-operated candle or light inside and the homeowner just left it there after Halloween was over. I didn’t see that flickering light yesterday, so hopefully a squirrel didn’t swallow it and his nose will light up like Rudolph’s!
So, I’ll try again tomorrow and maybe get a full walk in this time – grrrr!
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
I am showing my ignorance here…what is graupel? I got caught out in the weather, too. I was 1.5 miles away from my car at the rec center when it began to sleet and rain. I dashed back as fast as possible, but got soaked and cold! The sleet pelting my face hurt! I thought it was just going to snow. Next time, I will be more prepared!
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I know Laurie – that’s what happened to me too this morning – it was ugly out. We have Accuweather meteorologists on the AM radio and one got bent out of shape years ago because someone said it was “hailing” instead of “graupeling”. Hail is like frozen ice pellets and they can be large and cause damage to your car if driving in it or your house siding and usually round, where graupel is like a soft version of hail but usually forms on snowflakes so it is not as hard as hail and doesn’t cause damage. It is just frozen precip that latches onto snowflakes … but it pings rather than thuds. Don’t feel badly, the first time the weatherman said that I thought why not just say “hail” and then the news anchor asked what graupel was. I was glad as now I know. I hustled home too but in the course of a half hour, I got rained on, then the graupel and then it snowed like crazy but was swirling, not sticking. I took pics of it on my coat but just looked like white blobs. 🙂 Please bring back Fall Mother Nature!
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Yes, bring back fall indeed!
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Laurie: That squirrel is going to explode! No more icing on his walnuts!
Fred
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We had our first snow storm today. It was supposed to be 1 to 3 inches but there’s about 5 out there and it’s still doing something. Yes for spring!
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I heard Pennsylvania was getting slammed and that was on the early news this morning they expected a lot of snow. And Missouri had several accidents where people were not used to seeing snow plows and plowed into them as they skidded on the icy roads. A fellow blogger near Sandusky, Ohio said school was cancelled today due to freezing rain. My radio station has Accuweather meteorologists who are based in Pennsylvania and they mentioned how bad it will be. It’s too early for all this snow and we had more that stuck and maybe an inch overnight, but not as much as you for goodness sake. I guess this means no Indian Summer for either of us.
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We ended up at just under 8 inches. Our interstate highways were a mess and many people slept there overnight. It’s warming up fast today so I hope the snow melts. Many were caught off guard as it was early, was predicted to be light with a fast warming trend (which wasn’t as fast as they predicted).
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I just heard on the 8:00 a.m. World News Roundup that PA had 9 inches and thought of you. Too early for that much snow. We had more than predicted and I am waiting for the temps to go above 32 to go outside and will just walk in the hood … that’s if I feel comfortable doing it with no glare ice around. We have more snow coming in tomorrow morning but only 1-2 inches and I think this is not going to melt away and more snow Monday into Tuesday. My handyman is coming to clean the gutters Monday afternoon – he said even if all the leaves aren’t down, he cannot risk going up there as it looks like we are having too many incidents of these snows/freezes … I looked up at the big trees behind when I took the rose pictures and I guess they are down for the most part, but I am at his mercy quite frankly. I think the East Coast snowstorm messed up the Midwest and none of the weather folks predicted this much snow. I hope this is a fluke and we’re done with it.
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I hope it’s a fluke too but our winter prediction released this week was for warmer temps but more snow.
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I can’t “like” that comment Kate! I heard today that the predicted El Nino may have been made in error and now may not happen at all. I was wondering about that after three bouts of snow in one week and it’s only the middle of November. I keep waiting for our Indian Summer … might as well give up on that notion.
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We missed our Indian Summer too!
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I learned something new today! I had never heard of graupel before this either Linda. Your explanation above is perfect. We get it here too but everyone just calls it hail, including the weather people! What an interesting walk!
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Yes, three kinds of weather events in one-half hour and I just was writing someone else about the graupel as she had never heard of it. Anne lives in North Carolina in the mountains and they have rime ice which I’d never heard of before she wrote about it in a post. It is caused from the water droplets in fog and forms an icy surface on some surfaces. We get freezing fog here in Michigan. I sure am glad I work from home and don’t have to drive in any of these weather conditions. I took the bus way too many years and just looked out the window at it! What a weenie I am and I don’t see me changing unfortunately. 🙂
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I had never heard of graupel before. Wow! The spell checker knew more than I did. I wonder if I’ve ever experienced it and didn’t know it. When we moved to NC, we discovered rime ice, something we never had on Long Island.
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The meteorologist who first talked about it was German and he said graupel was a German word – like he always talks about having “fastknachs” for Fat Tuesday and they are German fattening donuts like Polish paczki. Here in Michigan we have the paczki on Fat Tuesday. But the anchor who was on at the time asked him what graupel was and he explained it – it is like hail only it is ice that attaches to snowflakes as they come down, so it is “soft hail” and cannot damage your siding or car like hail can. I rarely drive my car and one time I was going to allergist after work. Came home on the bus, got the car out of the garage. Looked like rain, but no storms predicted. Allergist is two miles away – halfway there it started to hail and the sun was shining and my car had minute dents on the hood, trunk and hood where hail hit it. None were bad enough to be bumped out but still …. I never heard of rime ice until you mentioned it and I think showed pictures in your blog. You and John went somewhere on a day trip I think and saw it.
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Yes, I did write about rime ice. We saw some a day or so ago on the mountain above us. The formation of ice depends on humidity, wind, and altitude. It’s still new enough to us that we stop and comment on it.
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Hopefully it is a fluke and goes away soon – I know the weather folks here did not predict correctly this time, they underestimated the snowfall that would stick – Kate Crimmons just said the same thing happened in Pennsylvania … I had heard an all-dry week next week and now they say we have more snow Monday into Tuesday. Kind of disheartening for everyone, including the long-distance travelers or the person who just wants to walk at the Park and feed the squirrels. Sigh.
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Dear Miss “Grrrrrrrr”……………………….I actually never heard of the word “graupel”………………….and still don’t know the difference between it and sleet………………….when it was falling all over me today!!
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Hi Ann Marie – the main difference is that hail comes down with a thud and is hard, usually spherical shaped, and graupel is ice that forms on snowflakes coming down and they become icy snowflakes … they come down softly with a little ping. And hail can come in non-Winter weather. I was driving one time in the Summer and within minutes hail came out of the sky. I was just driving from my house to the allergist’s office on Northline and Fort Street … the sky turned gray and hail came down and pelted my car… I had little indentations on the roof, hood and trunk … they were not enough to be bumped out, but they were there and the weatherman had NOT predicted any kind of weather like that … it was unbelievable to fire up hail that quickly. Yesterday was just a pain in the neck, first rain, then the graupel then snow swirling around everywhere. The picture I took did not show the snow that was falling in the background. I thought it would, but it was snowing so hard it just was a blur and it didn’t stick on the ground, at that time anyway, later it did. That is okay as I knew it was there and it likely messed up your walk as well.
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OMG you are so devoted to your walking. Now that I’m older I hate to get cold!
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Diane – I don’t especially like getting cold, but if it is clear and cold and no snow or ice on the path or sidewalk I don’t mind walking. I took the bus for many years so have the warm clothes to go walking, but I hate to drive in the snow and because I took the bus so many years, I never really honed my driving skills. Now that I work from home, even less chance to have to drive in it! You were lucky you got the day off due to freezing rain. When I took the bus, I remember walking up the street on a March day and everything was a sheet of ice. It took me about 45 minutes to go from my house to the top of the street where I could walk on the busy street as it had been salted. I was petrified to walk and tried walking on the grass where it wasn’t slick but I still had to cross driveways and they were sloped and the street was glare ice. I should have stayed home.
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Oh my! I hate ice!
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Me too! I have those YakTraks you put on your boots. But my mail carrier wears them in Winter when it is icy and she has fallen twice while wearing them. My one side of the house where I have to go to run the car every morning always ices up – sometimes those ice-melting pellets don’t even help and you have to take baby steps!
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I bought a pair of those about 5 years ago and they are still in the box….hahahaha
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I haven’t used mine either – my mom ordered them from a catalog the last Winter I worked on site, after one day it was a sheet of ice going up the street to catch the bus … taking baby steps the entire way and thought I’d never get there in one piece. But still not used them!
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We are so bad…😂🤣😂🤣
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That last flickering pumpkin is the best! 🙂 Caving-in fiendishness! Old age can bring that too!
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Ha ha – that made my day Tom! The first day I walked past that pumpkin, which was the one closest to the city sidewalk, I saw that light out of the corner of my eye – it was a gray day. I stopped to look in one of the “eyes” to see what was going on. I’d have loved to see if a squirrel went by and saw it – he’d have jumped a mile and climbed the nearest tree!
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Woke up to sleet yesterday, and stayed in all day. You are a brave soul walking in all kinds of weather. I did get your comment on my Witch of November post about the freighters, but it showed up in my spam folder under Comments when I checked it just now, so I was afraid to approve it in case some hacker had attached spam to it. Ruth Soaper was the one who actually inspired me to blog about the storm as she told me her husband had been a captain on one of the freighters! I don’t know if she has read it yet though. I do not think we got as much snow as other people in the US.
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I wonder why it went to SPAM – I can’t imagine what I said in the comment. I know I gave you the link to the Old Mariner’s Church because they always have a ceremony every year to acknowledge the passing of the 29 sailors from the Edmund Fitzgerald. You can Google that and you’ll see that church. They also bless freighters and boats at the beginning of the boating season. Yes, I discovered Ruth’s husband worked on one of our client’s freighters. My boss has a few clients with freighters and one client that has tugboats and a freighter and so Robb always goes on the Steamship Alpena every August and travels around the Great Lakes, sometimes just for three or four days, other times for a week. He goes with an attorney friend of his. Here is a photo of the S.S. Alpena from up top and it shows a picture in “Boat Nerd” as well: https://lindaschaubblog.net/2018/07/19/seize-the-day/
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I don’t think the spam was due to anything you said or linked to, I think it was just random. If it happens again I’ll ask WordPress. I never used to check my Comments section (on the LEFT hand side menu) until someone pointed out to me that I should, in case you miss a comment or for spam or pending etc. I usually just read my comments notification on the right hand side, that little bell thing. Your bosses trip sounds great, something really different, I’m sure he appreciates it for getting away from all the stress, esp. if you can’t get phone service out on the lakes . I was wondering when you get all your walking done, in the morning before work, or do you have flex hours and can work from home? It gets dark too early now to walk after work. How far are you from your goal and do you think you’ll be able to meet it with all this nasty weather setting in so early?
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I didn’t always get a lot of SPAM but recently I get all those ads for licensed sportswear and shoes … at least 10-15 per day. I am surprised when I get comments that have to be approved sometimes and ARE in the section with the little bell and not in comments section on the left-hand side. Because I’ll read that comment and see nothing untoward about it. Robb does enjoy his trips and he takes a lot of pictures and sends them to other clients and to me. Sometimes with different members of the crew. He used to go on a larger freighter, but it is in dry dock now. I went on that freighter with him to visit when it was visiting Detroit and was amazed that it was very modern and looked like a cruise ship. They used to take paying passengers to “cruise” the Great Lakes, but the S.S. Alpena does not take on paying passenger. I do my walking in the morning before work, and even when it is light in the evening in the late Spring/Summer/early Fall, I prefer the morning because there is more going on at the Park. A few times I have gone in late afternoon on a weekend, or a few times in the evening and it is not the same. The squirrels and all the birds are never around that time of day – it is a strange feeling going down there then. I got laid off in 2009 and then was hired part-time and told it would morph into full-time but it has never become a regular, full-time job like I had before … while we are busy, we never got back to the load of business we had before the recession. I finished my last two years of college in downtown Detroit and had to take two buses to get to school, a suburban bus and a City bus. That worked out well as there were many suburban buses in those days and I could take three different City buses to get to Wayne State University. But the bus situation is not so great now. I worked in downtown Detroit for many years and there were plenty of buses in the a.m. and the p.m. – they ran every 15 minutes in the busiest times of day (morning/evening). I only took one bus in and one bus home. After the merger, Robb and I left the Firm and went one mile away from downtown Detroit. I had to go back to taking two buses there and two buses home. The suburban buses and Detroit buses were not timely and I drove for a while in nice weather, ended up going in with someone else from the building – our schedules didn’t always mesh. So after getting hired back, and only part-time, I said I was not going down for four hours/day so would work from home. I actually work more than four hours now but I like working from home. I can do everything I did before except post mail, answer the door, make coffee and xerox. I don’t really have flex time but I often stay a little later if something is going on and needs to go out and then if I have to be late for some reason, I just figure it all evens out in the wash. Today I had a tree cutter at the house as I was having intermittent light flickering and called my energy provider to check no electrical problems. They sent a subcontractor from a tree removal company out to scope out the situation. I was 45 minutes late for work, but I just stayed a little later tonight. I just looked at my tally and I have 47 more miles to go – I would say that in six weeks that should be easy but last year after we had the snowstorm on December 9th and I had set a goal of 1,050 miles and 1,050 blog posts, we had day after day of snow – I took to wearing the pedometer while shoveling snow (also did my neighbor’s – we used to have a “deal” where he cut my lawn but this year he reneged on our “deal”) and I walked at the park two blocks away as I could gain steps that way and a lot of the streets and sidewalks were not plowed and they don’t plow the perimeter path at all unfortunately. I still go there but walk next to the path or on weekends I wait til the sun comes out and melts the ice and snow a little. So, as of today I have 47 more miles to go – we are having snow tomorrow, maybe 1-2 inches and clear Sunday and Monday, snow again on Tuesday morning. I think I can get to 1,051 but if we continue to have these snowy episodes I will have a big problem. In the Park two blocks away I can walk circles around the entire Park and it gives me lots of steps, though I have no pathway, just walking on the grass in the snow. I hope I don’t have to resort to that too much.
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You probably get spam about sportswear because they are reading your blog and think you need new sportswear for all your walking! I traded up to the Premium plan (annual $90?) last January as I was sick of the ads from the free plan, one of which was always right in the middle of my homepage. Those squirrels and birds in the park must be morning people! I wish I could work from home. I’ve been retired for 2 years now. The place where I worked got bought out in 2014 and five of us senior people got packages, which was okay with me as it was stressful and I was tired of the commute, esp in the winter. I went to work for the same company part time 2 days a week in a different location, for a year, as it was less of a drive, but ended up quitting as I had some health issues (nothing major, just not having the stamina required for a 8 or 9 hour shift with no breaks!). I then tried doing vacation relief for 4 hours here and there but the shifts were always Fridays evenings or Saturdays mornings that no one else wanted, and again involved a commute, and I hated the idea of committing so far in advance. I actually don’t mind being retired, but I didn’t quite get my home renovations finished, still kitchen left to do, so some extra money would be nice. Working from home must be lovely. I wish I could do archives or something for a museum or library. I really enjoy researching stuff. I am confident that you will meet your walking goal. I checked the long range forecast and it should be up to 7 C (we are Celsius here) by next weekend, but alas more rain……
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I do enjoy working from home – too many years of taking the bus, and then riding with someone whose schedules don’t always mesh. So I am happy to be doing work this way now. A job doing archiving for a library or museum would be perfect for you as you enjoy history and compiling articles about history. Have you looked for such a job as you could use your blog as a “resume”. There was a woman walker at Council Point Park and I would occasionally visit with her as we walked. Cheryl walked on weekdays but on weekends stayed home with her family. We found out we both had work-from-home jobs and hers was writing articles about research done on particular drugs. The articles went into trade magazines, and she said a few even appeared in “Time” magazine – she’d write about research done, side effects, benefits, etc. and she worked for various doctors who worked with pharmaceutical companies. She told me that sometimes the articles would require conference calls at all hours of the night because of time differences. She was quite busy with this work but loved it. I didn’t see Cheryl all this Summer and I knew she had a treadmill at home for Winter and bad weather days. I figured our weather was so crummy this year (in more than one season … we also had the month of July which was unusually hot and humid) that she had just used her treadmill instead of walking at the Park. I don’t usually do grocery shopping on Saturday but was trying to lay in groceries for Winter and so was there with the rest of the crowd. She introduced me to her husband and said she had a “heart issue” at the beginning of the year and had a pacemaker put in and had some trepidation about using the treadmill and/or walking in the Park and now recruited her husband to help her shop. I was surprised as she did 5 miles per day.
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That sounds interesting……thanks for the suggestion. I haven’t really given it much thought yet……but you don’t know what’s out there unless you look! I guess heart issues can happen at any age, no matter how good shape you are in, esp if it is a valve problem.
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You’re welcome Joan. Just try looking on there because you might be able to do something from home … put the word “remote” in front of the search to narrow it down. They may already have their archives done, but they need to be sorted through/labelled, etc. and if they are digitized, you would be given access to the “files” and able to do it from home. I wonder if libraries and museums and even newspapers are transferring items on microfiche to PDF format now? I remember having to go to the library and look on microfiche for reports done back in my college days … I feel like a dinosaur talking about that, but I think in one of the posts you wrote that you were looking in microfiche files for historical info … I imagine smaller places, libraries and the like will just keep their archived items on microfiche. I wish I still saw Cheryl at the Park because perhaps I could get some info on her position to assist your search … she told me she was scared to walk again, even use the treadmill.
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LOL – great photos to go with the Grrr and the graupel. I love to watch graupel fall, when I’m inside looking out, not walking in it. Glad it didn’t turn into a blizzard! Stay safe and warm – venture out when you can, those critters love seeing you and your camera! xx
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I like all Wintry precip better when I am peering out at it too. Today we had some flurries but nothing was sticking … but I had the camera out to take some pictures but flurrying like crazy and I didn’t want to get it wet, so I’ve used some pics from earlier in the week.
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Awesome Pics!!!!!
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Glad you liked them Bryan.
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