A day and a bit left on February, such as it is. For such a short month, it has packed a whallop this year. Brought Texas to its knees. The one part of the grid that that held firm and that did not go down was the part up in my neck of the flatlands. Oddly enough, it was the part that was not under ERCOT. It was the part that was required to meet federal standards because the company that built it supplied power to other states besides Texas. We’ll see if the powers that be got the message this time. Not holding my breath, though. My bet is that those ^&*%$#s in office will continue to listen to the money, rather than the people.
I confess to feeling guilty. The storm hit on the 14th, a Sunday. My power was off for about 15 minutes on Tuesday the 16th. My pipes never froze. (All the pipes are in the middle of the duplex between the two “plexes.”) My BFF, who lives in a little town northwest of Houston, was without power for over a week, was without water for over a week and will likely be without hot water for quite a while. My state is supposed to be a Red state. But I have a feeling that the longer this debacle goes on, the bluer it’s getting. I figure we’re starting to turn a bit maroon by now.
In the Knitting news, I’m moving right along on my infinity scarf. At the top is 18 inches, and still on the first skein (the ball in the bowl). In the middle is that little bit in the bowl left of the first skein and over 20 inches. At the bottom, today, is 27 inches and into the second skein. I have six skeins of the yarn. I think I’ll have enough.
I started it back in November of 2020, and I work on it a couple of rows at a time. I have it sitting on my computer desk for working on while I’m catching up on my YouTube channels 
or when I’m reading back over what I just wrote or cogitating what comes next on a story. One of these days, I need to get some scrap yarn and wrap it around me in the way the Infinity Wrap is supposed to wrap (see at right) , and then measure it, so I’ll know when to stop (My tape measure only goes to 60 inches; I’m thinking I’ll need about 100 inches). Then I’m going to have to haul off and (re)learn how to Kitchener.
Monday is my last day of cardiac rehab. Depending on the weather, I may be tackling the back yard next week. It needs raking and the rakings bagged and put in the dumpster. The last time I did it, I got fourteen big trash bags worth. Don’t think I’ll get that many this time, though I don’t know if I want to tackle the front garden bed or not. It needs forking and weeding, and something extremely low maintenance planted in it. Don’t know if I’m that energetic. I might investigate getting a piece of cattle panel or something to use as a trellis for those durn climbing roses. They’re the kind that bloom all summer. Don’t know if I want to fool with it, though. It would set a precedent I’m not sure I want to set.
Maybe when the weather gets springier, I’ll start walking. I have cordless headphones and my iPhone, and music I’ve downloaded off Napster. Could be nice. We’ll see.
My BFF thought her cataracts were so bad that she went to a doc to investigate surgery. Turns out her cataracts weren’t bad at all. She just needed new glasses. Now that she has new glasses and can see to read again, I’m putting together a care package of paperbacks I’ve replaced with hardbacks and culls to send to her. A little care package.
The Owl Underground 