Groundhogs UPDATED

Punxsutawney Phil has predicted six more weeks of winter. Wisconsin's own Jimmy the Groundhog in Sun Prairie has not been heard from yet. Maybe the longer winter will stay out east. They have already had a far worse winter than we have.

UPDATE: We have been cursed with a sunny day, but I hear that Jimmy did not see his shadow. So we may have a short winter. On the other hand, Jimmy bit the mayor of Sun Prairie, which must be a sign of something.

Flying high

Click on image to enlarge.

My cousin, Rusty-the-writer, posted this on Facebook today. It is about our great-grandparents taking an airplane ride to celebrate their 53rd wedding anniversary in 1938. They were married June 25, 1885! If you can enlarge it enough to read, you will notice the name "G.J. Dodd of Bullard." That was our grandfather, Gordon Jackson Dodd. My father, born in 1921, was among those 29 grandchildren. J.A. Dodd's name was James Andrew, and my father was named James for him. My great-grandmother, who is never named in the article, was Georgia Ann Wood Dodd. I think it is through her Venables ancestors that we get our imperial pretensions. J.A. died a few months after this flight, but she lived until 1953. I have no memory of her, but I would have been three when she died. I have a faint recollection of what must have been her funeral.

Books in the snow

 At one this afternoon, I completed the novel. Well, completed this phase of it, but it is a complete 319-page draft, mostly tidied up. Now I will send it off to a couple of friends to read and see what they think. There will be things to do: correcting chapter numbering and chapter titles, checking consistency of names, and maybe more substantial editing before I can start the final format for publication. But it was nice to get this much done.

The snow continues outside. We have almost four inches on the ground now. Tom and Helen have decided to go for a walk. I noted that it is still only 15 degrees (-9.4 C) and I will stay inside to protect the cats. I stand ready to call out the sled dogs to rescue the walkers if need be.

Right now I am thinking of titles for the novel. I have divided the text up into six books, named for the first six books in the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy and Joshua. 

• Genesis: Early life
• Exodus: Leaving for university and university years
• Leviticus: Entering monastery and seminary years
• Numbers: Working as priest
• Deuteronomy: Recovery
• Joshua: Meeting Josh and starting a new life

Possible title: Benjamin's Tale: A Life in Six Books

PS -- Just as I was about to post this, I heard the door open and Tom and Helen returning. They said as soon as they got down by the pond the wind hit them in the face, and that was all she wrote. We are all hunkering down for the duration. Tom has had a beef stew simmering away all morning and the house smells scrumptious.

Snowy Sunday

It began snowing lightly before we turned in last night, and when we got up this morning there was an inch or so on the deck, but a couple of inches on the lawn. The snow is blowing in from the north side of the house, and that protects the deck a bit. It is only 15 degrees out (-9.4 C), and the snow is fine and dry. There is a better than even chance it will keep up like this until evening.

In preparation for the snow, Tom put out suet for the birds yesterday. Carl showed up to cut wood before Tom got the birdfeeder filled, however, and he went off to play with Carl and did not mention to me that the feeder needed to be restocked. So this morning, ignoring Helen and me when we suggested he put out a plate of seed on the deck,  he insisted on shoveling a path around the house to the feeder and dragging the ladder out there so he could feed the birds properly. I am sure they are happy.

He just called me to breakfast: bacon and eggs for a snowy morning. Hmmmm, good!