Our second snow of the winter season is upon us. It started snowing around 10:00 pm Friday evening; at first a very light snow, stopping at times before it set in to a steady snow for the rest of the night. I woke this morning to the sound of sleet hitting the windows and it sleeted continuously for hours before snow mixed in with the sleet. I have no idea of just how much snow and sleet is on the ground; however, it is a lot and the street in front of my house is deeply covered. The snowploughs have yet to visit my street as they are concentrating on the major motorways. I include a photograph and a couple of videos that I shot from my doorways.

Second Snow - 2010

My Dad was an avid fisherman; he enjoyed fishing and did very well at it. It was rare for Dad to go fishing and not bring home a big catch of fish. Fishing was not only a sport for Dad, but also a way to put food on the table to feed his family. When I was old enough, I would often join Dad when he would go fishing, although I was never as adapt at it as Dad was.

Dad and I would either visit one of the many area ponds, or visit one of the several nearby rivers. Fishing in a still pond is very different than fishing in swiftly moving water and each requires different techniques; I was better at still water fishing than river fishing while Dad was equally adapt at both. One of the rivers we use to visit had a few small dams built by a textile mill to channel water into a canal that in turned was used to operate an electric generator to provide electrical power to the mill. Dad and I would often fish in the waters below the dams. The river bed consists of many large rocks which are parts of igneous dykes left behind during the Triassic period when rifting occurred as the North American and African plates separated, allowing the magma to flow up to the surface. The river wore away the earth down to these igneous dykes. These dykes are covered with tough grass-like water plants that made great footing for crossing the river. When the water level is low enough, one can cross back and forth across the river and even travel up and down the river fishing in the pools formed behind the rocks.

One summer day Dad decided to go fishing and invited me to go along with him. I readily agreed and got my fishing gear together and met him at his truck. On the way to the river, we stopped to buy some crickets which were Dad's favourite live bait. I was never really all that keen on grabbing the cricket as it poked its head out of the little bait keeper and it would often take me a time or two before I could grab one; however, if one wants to fish, one must bait one's hook. When Dad and I reached the river, we got our gear together and entered the river. Now I should mention at this point that at the time I did not know how to swim. In fact, I still can not swim; I have tried to learn, but can not seem to displace enough water to match my body mass. However, I have found that I can sink very well.

I had crossed the river a couple of times and I was just not having any luck. I decided I would wade downstream while Dad stayed upstream near the dam. At one point I had reached a sand bar and decided I would fish from the sand bar as it was easier than standing on the rocks. As I walked further out on the sand bar trying to add something to my stringer, I suddenly found myself in the water, with nothing under my feet. I had walked off the sand bar into a large hole created by the swirling river. Since I couldn't swim, I knew I was in serious trouble; luckily the water near the sand bar was not moving very fast. I manage to keep keep my head out of the water, but there was no footing under me. I spread my arms out and leaned back in the water to try to keep afloat, but I knew I was in serious trouble and that it was a real possibility that I was going to drown. I looked up the river to see where Dad was because I needed his help and needed it fast. However, I saw that Dad was much too far away; a guess of over 120 meters (400 feet) as I think back to that day, and I knew that it was useless to call out to Dad as there was just no time for him to either travel down the river, or to cross over to the river bank and run downstream, to reach me. If I was going to get out of this trouble I was in, I was going to have to do it myself. I did the only thing I knew to do, I push my arms back and forth and kicked my feet until I found footing and I quickly push myself back and up onto the sand bar until I could stand up. I walked over to the river bank and sat down to calm myself as I was shaking a bit; I had come close to drowning after all. When I got myself under control, I picked up my fishing rod and reel which I had manage to hang onto the whole time I was in the water and went back to fishing. I waded back up the river to where Dad was and continued to fish the rest of the time nearby to Dad. I never told Dad or Mum about the incident as I did not want to worry them, and Mum probably would have made me fish from the river bank from then on.

While I am no fan of Republicans, and for that matter Democrats as well, I was pleased to see that Brown won the Massachusetts Senate race. It was really the independents that put Brown into office, and over the healthcare reform bill that is being forced down the throats of Americans. Now let's hope that no trickery is done to prevent the quick seating of Brown. When Ted Kennedy first won the election, he was seated in one day, and more recently, Niki Tsongas was seated in two days when she took the seat vacated by the death of her husband. I plan on writing to my representatives in Congress to let them know I expect no trickery and that Brown should be seated as quickly as Kennedy and Tsongas were when they took office.

It was a spring day in winter today and I took full advantage of it to work out in the gardens. The temperatures climbed up above 16°C (61°F) today and I was able to work out in the gardens without a coat or hat. I had let myself get behind in cleaning the gardens and flower beds of leaves so the last few days I have been busy working outside. While leaves can help to insulate the ground and help some of the more sensitive plants to winter over, a heavy compressed layer of leaves will smother out many of the plants and prevent them from being able to sprout. Also, a thick layer of leaves can cause the ground to stay overly wet and may cause rot and diseases for your rhizomes.

Flowering Almond - 2009

I decided to relocate my flowering almond. The photograph above is a shot of the flowers on the shrub from spring of 2009. I had intended to move it this past autumn; however, I just never found the time and since the day was so nice, and the ground wet and easy to dig, I decided today was as good a time as any. The recommendation is to wait until spring if not done in autumn. However, the shrub needed to be relocated as it was not doing well in its present location and I was afraid if I waited it would not get moved. A flowering almond needs moist soil that drains well and it was not in a location that would properly drain. Also, it should receive about six hours of sun a day, and I don't think it was getting enough sun in its old location.

Flowering almonds are of the genus Prunus, of the family Rosaceae. The small, ruffled, pink or white blossoms usually appear before the leaves in spring. If you look at my photograph above, you can see that the leaves are just beginning to appear. In autumn the leaves will turn a very pretty copper and yellow colour. The flowering almond is a perennial shrub that will obtain a height and spread of about 90 to 152 cm (3 to 5 ft.). It does best in a well drain soil in full sun, but can tolerate other soil types and partial shade.

I walked around the front garden several times to decide where I thought would be a good location, and even ventured into the back garden as well. The back garden contains the leech field for my septic system, and there is limited space that one can plant things, and especially a plant that sends down deep roots. I decided the front garden would be the best place for the flowering almond. Once I decided on a location I went to work spading the soil and adding a top soil compost mixture.

To move the flowering almond, I first went around the shrub in a circle with the spade to cut any roots and to form a root ball. The nice thing about the soil being as wet as it was is that I did not have to worry about losing the soil around the shrub's roots. Once I had the root ball lose from the surrounding soil, I tried to lift it up into my wheelbarrow. I found out that I was not strong enough to lift this shrub, and I certainly did not want to hurt my back again. I put the wheelbarrow onto its side and slide the shrub out of the hole and into the wheelbarrow. I then lifted the wheelbarrow upright and I was able to wheel the shrub to its new home.

Replanting the shrub was much easier than removing it. I spaded out a hole The size of the root ball and carefully tipped the wheelbarrow onto its side. I was then able to carefully slide the shrub out and into the hole. I pushed the soil back up around the shrub making sure I kept the soil level at the same height as before. Since my soil tends to be a clay soil, I decided to plant the shrub slightly above the level of the ground so that it will properly drain. I will go back later and border the shrub with stones and maybe even create a flower bed with the shrub at one end. Hopefully, my flowering almond will survive this relocation.

It appears that the House and Senate are close to finalising their deal making on the so called healthcare reform bill. It is no surprise to me that Obama decided to get into the game as well. On Thursday Obama called House and Senate Democratic leaders to the White House for some secret talks on the healthcare reform bill. So much for Obama pledge of openness and transparency; I don't think the American public can expect Obama to keep any of his campaign promises.

I find the constant references to sweeping healthcare reform legislation very irritating. How Obama or any member of Congress can refer to the current form of the healthcare bill as sweeping healthcare reform is beyond me. The healtcare reform bill that the House and Senate are mashing together comes down to a mandate that all Americans must purchase health insurance, or they will be fined; this is what Obama and Congress are calling sweeping healthcare reform. Of course neither Obama or Congress has the authority to mandate that Americans purchase health insurance; however, Congress is good at ignoring what they are not authorised to do.

Any real efforts at healthcare reform have consistently been removed from the bill because the special interest groups did not want it and Congress gives the special interest groups what they want. Congress knows where their real bread and butter comes from, not from the people who elected them to office, but the corporations that fund their campaigns at election time. I truly believe the United States of America is one of the worst corrupted governments on the planet. Congress could have created real healthcare reform if they had chosen to do so. However, they decided not to help the American people and instead to help the drug companies, big corporate healthcare, and the already protected health insurers; health insurers are exempt from the monopoly laws as well as protected from competition from outside insurers.

None of the real problems with healthcare in the US are going to be addressed. Such problems as a drug monopoly that prevents Americans from importing cheaper drugs from Canada or Europe, or scams such as telling patients they need expensive medical tests while knowing there are no real reasons for those tests, or the exorbitant charges for emergency care, will not be addressed by Congress because they really don't care about real healthcare reform and they don't care about the people that elected them to office. As I said, they know where their real bread and butter comes from.