Good morning GH. It is just past 2:00 AM in "The City," and the current temperature is 18° under cloudy skies, as we head down to our high of 11°. We are also expecting more snowfall, one to three inches today, and an additional three to five inches on Tuesday. The piles just continue to grow. Additionally, just like many cities in the country, we are expecting wind gusts between 25 and 30 MPH. Those gusts will lead to wind chills of -20 to -30 below zero Fahrenheit. If  you convert those temperatures to the Celsius scale, you get -28.88888° to - 34.4444444°. In either system, that's cold!

Our local school district has closed the schools for today, and given the similar temperatures and winds on Tuesday, they may also do the same on that day too. People in the know in the Chicago area are experiencing similar conditions, and so the schools there are also closed. We also had many other activities canceled on Sunday.

A 4:00 AM update. The storm has moved in with a vengeance. I have never seen white-out conditions on the street in front of the palatial estate before. I can now put that on my to done list. Anyone who is driving had best be a doctor, an E.R. nurse, or a member of the public safety department. I have to amend that statement. The city truck just went by spreading sand or salt. However, when the temperature is below about 18°, salt is of little efficacy. If people are going to a fast food restaurant, a big box store, or some other non-essential activity, there is no excuse. The warnings have been up for hours, and since the MDOT has asked people to stay off the streets, and since the schools are closed, people have no reason to be driving, pure and simple. Even the trains aren't running this morning!

A further update, The trucks may have been spreading, but more importantly they were plowing and now a lot more snow is in our shared driveway. It seems as though our shoveler was never here. I think he should wait until later on Monday before shoveling more..

I was watching television earlier, and I am always amazed by the myriad services and inventions for sale in the wee hours of the morning. Best of all, many or all of them come with a special offer that allows you to get two for the price of one just by paying an additional fee for shipping and handling. If I needed two devices that allow me to chop, make tortilla or bacon bowls, seal up everything that leaks on the  palatial estate, etc., I'd be all set. The other offers are for various types of vitamins or health improvements. Is your back sore? You need one of these braces. How about your joints in general? Then get this or that product and never worry again. That doesn't count the various commercials for electric wheel chairs, canes, or other medical devices. In short, if it needs chopping, bracing, slicing, or dicing, then what you need can be found on late night television.

Of course, if you want to look 20 or 30 years younger, there is a procedure for that too. That set me to thinking about whether I would want to look as I did 20 or 30 years ago. I like my face just as it is. I think that the lines and creases give me an air of wisdom that I didn't have either in my imagination or in reality, 20 or 30 years ago. If they could erase all of the aches and pains that came with age, maybe, but that is highly unlikely. I paid for this wisdom, and I wouldn't want to change a thing.

Every time I visit the Post, I have to stop and look at the faces of the young men on the wall in the hallway. Every time I do, I hear the refrains of a song written by a singer/songwriter from Florida, Michael McCloud, who several years ago wrote a song to help commemorate the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. The song is simply titled Memorial and the refrain goes something like this, "Sailors and soldiers, who never got any older..." They will never get any older because of their service.

My dad was fortunate to come back from that great war, seemingly intact. But, I always wonder, what was he like before that experience? Was my dad the same, or was he different? Was he like me? Was he like Adam? If he was different, how was he different? I doubt anyone comes back from any life-changing experience unchanged. Just a thought on my part.

Oh well, as we await more snow, I have to wonder what, if anything, is different this year? Have we had more snow, or is this really the norm? If you look at historical records, Chicago had huge storms during my short life. In my memory, we had big storms that closed schools and businesses  in: 1967, 1978, 1979, etc. So, the current storms are probably just more in a string. However, the overly warm temperatures we had here two years ago that savaged the fruit crops were not usual, according to the locals. If you live in the Midwest, it snows in the winter and it gets cold. The last two years were likely the anomalies rather than this year. Who knows? Everybody has stories from their youth about the bigger, brighter,colder, louder, etc. Just check out the Internet if you have any doubts.

So today, Mary and I will be staying in. Sugar's dog walker will call us to see if Sugar will be ready to go out later in the day. I don't want Sugar the Weather Dog nor her walker to be out in this brutal weather. Mary will work, and I'll read. Mary will make lunch as she uses up some leftovers and I will enjoy her efforts. Sugar will do her best to sleep away the day. The Sun will rise at 8:16 AM and set at 5: 26 PM. The Earth will continue to spin on its axis and each day will pass much the same.

Oh, I tuned Ivy to see how she sounds. I had forgotten how wonderful the sound of a 12 string guitar can be, especially, an Ovation. The sound of an Ovation is unique, almost like a symphony, whether in six or 12 string versions. I couldn't strum much, but I am dreaming. Ciao.