Heat Wave

Got a call from my friend Jean in Duarte, CA, today. She's been hearing about all the super cold weather in the plains states and wanted to make sure we in Alma are all OK. We are super OK because all that cold is well north of us. Sure, it's not California weather here, but it has been an unseasonably warm winter with a few days of true cold and snow. The high temp today is about 50 degrees F, which is much better than the high of 10 degrees to the northeast in Omaha. Most of the snow here is gone except in the shadier spots where old, dirty snow can be seen. In fact, pictures can tell the best story.


Standing in my front doorway, this was the scene on Christmas day. Mother Nature had been kind and gave us all a two inch coat of fresh snow for the big day, which was nice because on December 26, the high temperature in beautiful downtown Alma, NE, was 68 degreees. Go figure.








This is almost the same view taken this afternoon. As you can see, it ain't summer but it's not bad. I went walking along the trail by the lake today and most of it is free and clear of ice and snow. In a couple of shaded gullies, the trail is covered with ice, so I walked on the grass shoulder to get through. No problem at all. Got in my standard 2.25 mile walk in about 45 minutes.

It's certainly not bikini weather at the lake here, but we are not catching weather hell like the people in northern Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota, where the wind chill approached 60 degrees below zero today.


Did you know that UCLA has a women's rugby team? Neither did I until someone posted a video of the team's annual "prom dress" game, which is a promotional stunt to publicize the team. If you want to seem some hard tackling by women in formal dresses, here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoG5duF1N64

On that spectacular note, I will leave for a couple of days.