Winter Wonderland

Wishes really do come true. Louisville has snow. We had a six inch snowfall last week and another one this week, which is just enough to have some fun. Last week I built a three foot mushroom man out of snow. He had a huge round mushroom cap that laughed in the face of gravity. But the sun eventually took him down after two days. Today I built my interpretation of the killer rabbit. It is not as big and mushroom man, but it has sharp pointy teeth made from icicles.

Some of the icicles on the building have grown longer than me. They are over ten feet long. Their size is amazing to look at.

A very beautiful scene occurs in Louisville when it snows. If the winter storm reaches us during the day time, it is just warm enough in this southern city to be rain or melt on contact leaving all the trees very wet. Then during the night the fluffy snow falls and attaches to the wet-icy surfaces creating a majestic flocking of all the deciduous and evergreen trees. It is striking to see and something I never saw is Pennsylvania.

Another majestic sight is seeing our local Cardinals emerging on a sunny day. Their brilliant red feathers set against a sparkling white background is breathtaking.

For those of you that get a little sad in Winter, take the time to observe all the beauty Winter has to offer from the delicate lace of a snowflake to sparkling icicles to the beauty of all the different patterns of tree branches. Take a moment to enjoy winter before it is gone.

Recycling

So far I have not been able to go on an outdoor activity due to many days of rain. I don't mind being cold, but cold and wet will always keep me inside under a blanket. One thing I have been able to accomplish though is to figure out where to recycle. Our apartment complex does not offer recycling, and just because I do not live in California anymore does not mean that I should clog up landfills with recyclables.

We had been dropping off our recyclables at my brother-in-law's house for city pick-up, but it was not a convenient solution. But I have just found two nearby recycling drop-off centers that take paper, plastic, glass and metal. Plus, the City of Louisville recycles plastic up to #6, so I can recycle even more than I did in San Diego. Also, right next to the store where I buy my dog food is a shop called Earthenirvana, which is owned by a San Diego native. There I am able to drop-off used batteries, burnt-out light bulbs (though I have yet to have a compact fluorescent light bulb burn out in the eight years I have been using them) and electrical cords; all of which are illegal to through out in California but legal in Kentucky, but just because it is legal does not mean that it is right. I prefer not to through hazardous waste into public landfills that could potentially leach into local aquifers contaminating my drinking water. All of this information seeking took me no more than ten minutes. It just goes to show that it takes very little effort to recycle. And remember this, if your local landfill reaches capacity and closes, where is the new one going to go? Maybe just down the street, and they do not smell very good.