To all my fellow Eskimos –good morning.
We awakened in Lincoln this morning (Jan 31) to wind chills below zero. Now, (11:00am) the ambient air temperature has climbed to zero. One of my favorite uncles would have said that it is “colder than a well digger’s belt buckle in Alaska.” (Although on particularly nasty days an anatomical part – a derriere (although that was not the word he inserted) – would have been used to describe the item that gets frozen. Anyway, you get the picture. It is really cold.
Two nights ago, PBS News reported on the broad sweep and severity of the storm that encompasses half the geographic area of the United States and – incredibly – more than half the population of the country. The weather report said that perhaps even places like Orlando and Miami might receive traces of snow. Our thoughts particularly go out to our friends in the South and Southeast who aren’t accustomed to the blizzards, icy roads, snow plows, power outages and low temperatures that sometimes accompany this type of storm.
We have a story in our family that reminds us – and, with a smile, still causes us to worry – about the inexperience and lack of preparations that sometimes confront those from parts of our country that normally aren’t troubled with weather such as this. Many years ago, when we were stationed at Offutt AFB, near Omaha, Nebraska, Nita’s mom and dad, who lived deep in southern Florida near Miami, came to spend the Christmas – New Year’s holidays with us. We picked them up at the airport on a cold, cold day in December. Nita’s dad came off the airplane prepared to cope with the south Florida version of really cold weather – he wore a long-sleeved shirt with flannel lining. We bundled him quickly out to the car then stopped at the first Shopko we saw to buy him a coat. (We also never let him live it down.)
Well, so much for the meteorological discussion: you can’t live in Nebraska without talking about the weather …
There’s not a lot of news directly related to writing to talk about. As I’ve mentioned before, those who in recent days have come across the short story Doomsday 3.0 (“Spank the Carp”, e-zine Dec 2022 issue) or the fiction novel The YouTube Candidate have commented on events described in those works that in some – or many – ways, are similar to current happenstances in our country. Doomsday 3.0 describes a nation tearing itself apart and the extreme, last-ditch actions taken in an attempt to stop the bleeding and begin the process of restoration. The YouTube Candidate takes us though a divisive presidential campaign, the emergence of a new party with innovative ideas, and the constitutional crisis that results when no candidate receives an electoral college majority. There is also an assassination attempt, an influential debate, and other foreshadowings of events that are in today’s headlines. Readers seem to have found it interesting/instructive during the 2024 campaign and, with the mid-term elections coming up this fall, I am beginning to get more than the usual number of queries about it. The challenge, as always, is to get the word out to potential readers who might also find it interesting. We’ll try to do some prep work arrangements with book stores. If you have read the book and, hopefully, enjoyed it, your assistance – personal contacts, social media, etc. – would be most important of all. Thanks, as always. Also as always, I’’ll treat for the coffee and cinnamon rolls.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT:
This is a one-time dispensation from the TRULY AWFUL PUNS feature. For readers – especially “those of a certain age” -- who enjoyed the artists and music of the ‘50s and early ‘60s, the news flash below provides the exciting news that “ARTISTS FROM THAT ERA ARE REVISING THEIR HITS WITH NEW LYRICS TO ACCOMMODATE BABY BOOMERS.
Enjoy:
/////
Stay safe and warm.
Best wishes to all,
Tom
We awakened in Lincoln this morning (Jan 31) to wind chills below zero. Now, (11:00am) the ambient air temperature has climbed to zero. One of my favorite uncles would have said that it is “colder than a well digger’s belt buckle in Alaska.” (Although on particularly nasty days an anatomical part – a derriere (although that was not the word he inserted) – would have been used to describe the item that gets frozen. Anyway, you get the picture. It is really cold.
Two nights ago, PBS News reported on the broad sweep and severity of the storm that encompasses half the geographic area of the United States and – incredibly – more than half the population of the country. The weather report said that perhaps even places like Orlando and Miami might receive traces of snow. Our thoughts particularly go out to our friends in the South and Southeast who aren’t accustomed to the blizzards, icy roads, snow plows, power outages and low temperatures that sometimes accompany this type of storm.
We have a story in our family that reminds us – and, with a smile, still causes us to worry – about the inexperience and lack of preparations that sometimes confront those from parts of our country that normally aren’t troubled with weather such as this. Many years ago, when we were stationed at Offutt AFB, near Omaha, Nebraska, Nita’s mom and dad, who lived deep in southern Florida near Miami, came to spend the Christmas – New Year’s holidays with us. We picked them up at the airport on a cold, cold day in December. Nita’s dad came off the airplane prepared to cope with the south Florida version of really cold weather – he wore a long-sleeved shirt with flannel lining. We bundled him quickly out to the car then stopped at the first Shopko we saw to buy him a coat. (We also never let him live it down.)
Well, so much for the meteorological discussion: you can’t live in Nebraska without talking about the weather …
There’s not a lot of news directly related to writing to talk about. As I’ve mentioned before, those who in recent days have come across the short story Doomsday 3.0 (“Spank the Carp”, e-zine Dec 2022 issue) or the fiction novel The YouTube Candidate have commented on events described in those works that in some – or many – ways, are similar to current happenstances in our country. Doomsday 3.0 describes a nation tearing itself apart and the extreme, last-ditch actions taken in an attempt to stop the bleeding and begin the process of restoration. The YouTube Candidate takes us though a divisive presidential campaign, the emergence of a new party with innovative ideas, and the constitutional crisis that results when no candidate receives an electoral college majority. There is also an assassination attempt, an influential debate, and other foreshadowings of events that are in today’s headlines. Readers seem to have found it interesting/instructive during the 2024 campaign and, with the mid-term elections coming up this fall, I am beginning to get more than the usual number of queries about it. The challenge, as always, is to get the word out to potential readers who might also find it interesting. We’ll try to do some prep work arrangements with book stores. If you have read the book and, hopefully, enjoyed it, your assistance – personal contacts, social media, etc. – would be most important of all. Thanks, as always. Also as always, I’’ll treat for the coffee and cinnamon rolls.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT:
This is a one-time dispensation from the TRULY AWFUL PUNS feature. For readers – especially “those of a certain age” -- who enjoyed the artists and music of the ‘50s and early ‘60s, the news flash below provides the exciting news that “ARTISTS FROM THAT ERA ARE REVISING THEIR HITS WITH NEW LYRICS TO ACCOMMODATE BABY BOOMERS.
Enjoy:
- Herman’s Hermits – “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Walker.”
- The Bee Gees – “How Can You Mend a Broken Hip.”
- Bobby Darin – “Splish Splash I Was Having a Flash”
- Ringo Starr – “I’ll Get By With the Help of Depends”
- The Commodores – “One, Twice, Three Times to the Bathroom”
- Marvin Gaye – “Heard it from the Grape Nuts”
- Leo Sayer – “You Make Me Feel Like Napping”
- Willy Nelson – “On the Commode Again”
- Johnny Nash – “I Can’t See Clearly Now”
- Helen Reddy – “I Am Woman Hear Me Snore”
- Abba – “Denture Queen”
/////
Stay safe and warm.
Best wishes to all,
Tom
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