More House Mountain Snow! (published 1-31-2010)

Yes! We had a real snow for a change! The Appalachian Irishman measured four inches in his yard, in the early afternoon before his hike yesterday. The freezing rain of late morning may have diminished the total. Is there hope for global cooling?

Two snows in one month (albeit, the first, on January 9, was light) bring back childhood memories of several good snows each winter.

Enjoy the views, this time mostly of mountain streams and trails. A cloud covered House Mountain, with heavy snow falling, prevented any scenic shots from the bluffs.

Snow Day? (published 1-31-2010)

Life is not fair! The Appalachian Irishman worked too hard and too many hours last week, even working last Sunday afternoon, all to get ready for the ever-loving, annual state (socialist bureaucrat) QA survey. (Now, the surveyors are friendly enough, mind you, but the survey can be grueling still yet.) He needed a snow day off. Did he get it? No. Heck, no! Mrs. Appalachian Irishman, however, who works in the socialist "edukashun" system, was off on a snow day Friday! That was the sixth vacation, pardon me, snow day this month!

Well, I would not have minded, for we must keep the little kiddies safe, but there was no snow! I asked Mrs. Appalachian Irishman to take the following photo from the deck -- since she was home and I was working -- as proof. (The date should be 1/29/2010, not 2009. I'd not set the date to the correct year yet!)

The snow did not start until about 3:00 PM, as light flurries. All the counties in the area, except my beloved Hawkins County, took a full snow day, however. (Hawkins County officials had the genital fortitude to hold school until noon, at least.)

What does this say about our society? It says that Americans have become timid, lazy, and easily frightened! Did the socialist "edukators" just want a long weekend? That’s laziness. Were they afraid that little Johnny might be hit by a snowflake, just as the final bell rang? That’s cowardice!

You know. Actually, it might be the lawyers. What if little Johnny slipped on a snowflake, hit the ground, and bumped his little head? The parents might sue the school system!

Wake up America! Toughen up! Do not be controlled by trumped up mass hysteria! If not, we might become snowed under by another nation. Has anyone heard of the Roman Empire?

House Mountain Snow! (published 1-10-2010)

We have winter around here, and sometimes it falls on a weekend! Could those global warming fanatics be right? The Appalachian Irishman longs for the cold, snowy winters of his youth, when, getting out of school for days, friends and I would ride sleds, slide on frozen ponds, hike, and even camp in the snow!

We have had about a week of winter around here, with a generous estimate of a whole two inches of snow and below freezing highs. The usual havoc reigned: unnecessary school closings, raids on grocery stores, vehicles in ditches, accidents, radio road condition reports (from “brave” souls who drove in it), etc.

Yesterday, the Appalachian Irishman took his sixty-fifth hike, for three hours, on his beloved House Mountain. It was 25 degrees in the valley. How cold on the mountain? Who knows? The water in my canteen started to freeze. The snow started falling heavily on the ridge, with the wind blowing and temperature dropping. On the north bluff, the updraft blew the snow upward. On the trail down, I slipped, for the first time ever hiking up there, on an ice patch, landing on my butt and tapping the back of my head against a rock. I hiked out the last part in the dark, with no light. What fun! I wish we had more than one week of winter here. I need to go ice fishing!

At any rate, for your viewing pleasure, here are a few photos from yesterday. I wish someone would give me a job hiking, taking photos, and writing about my ventures! The first one, of course, is sheer self-promotion!