Dan Antion

Change Up – JusJoJan & SoCS

Island View
Two limes, artfully balanced.

In the before time, before we changed the name of the bar to the Island View Bar and Grill, before Covid, before it snowed; I would have punted the prompt down into the story. I’m changing it up a little because it’s been a long day.

It looks like David, and I are the only ones here today. Some people might be sill cleaning up after the snow we had yesterday, but I think people have gone back to avoiding restaurants and bars. Maybe if it’s nearly empty, it’s safer for us. We’ve come to relax, share a beverage, and do something with Linda G. Hill’s Just Jot it January Prompt and Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt.

“Excuse me, Dan, shouldn’t that be prompts? With an ‘s’ – you know plural.”

“No, David, it’s only one prompt. It works for either challenge.”

“Oh.”

“This is why you typically make your entrance later.”

Anyway, it is January, so Saturday prompts are doing double-duty and you’re seeing more posts from me than you usually do. Don’t worry, I won’t be posting every day, and I am trying to make them shorter, as you will soon see. This week, it’s Linda who’s running a little long. She says:

“For those of you joining SoCS for the first time, it’s a little different than the other prompts in that it’s not always a whole or single word. If you’re joining in from JusJoJan, don’t want to write stream of consciousness style, no worries. It’s up to you! If you do want to try it, please check out the rules (on Linda’s site). It’s fun! Here’s your Saturday prompt:

“Your prompt for #JusJoJan and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: ‘In the.’ Start your post with the words ‘In the’ – that’s the prompt! Enjoy!”

I think it’s time to give David his cue.

If we were having a beer, you’d be wondering about the empty bar.

“In the time before Omicron, Dan this bar would have been be more crowded.”

“So? You always say you hate it when the bar is crowded.”

“That’s true, but when something you don’t like is missing, you end up not liking something else.”

“What?”

“When you have something, you don’t like, it drains the anger out of your system. When it’s a benign thing like a bunch of people in the bar, you realize it’s harmless, the anger fades away, and you feel better.”

“I think you want to be substituting ‘I’ for ‘you’ in that observation, David . I don’t think that’s a universal thing.”

“Hi guys, sorry I’m late, I was swapping out the Bud Light keg.”

“Hi Skippy. I hope you didn’t switch that on our account, neither of us will be drinking that.”

“Oh, I know, Dan. You guys don’t like it, but it’s our most popular beer on tap, Corona for you and, David, are you having a John Howell’s Special?”

“I am Skippy, now that my day is complete.”

“What made it complete? Me?”

“It might be best if you just got the drinks, Skippy.”

“OK, Dan.”

“Feeling better now, David.”

“Yes, yes I am, Dan.”

It rained a lot this week, so when it was clear, Maddie didn’t care about the cold.
Fractured ice
“Hi. If you’re coming out with Maddie, can you bring a few peanuts? It’s supposed to snow tomorrow.”
Here you go River!
It is pretty
We shook the snow off the cypress a few times during the storm
Snoopy was here yesterday. I hope she has a shovel.
I pushed the snow off to one side while it was still falling because we had to go out.
It’s easier with the paths
The snow is ending
The storm has moved into northern New England.
How many squirrel nests do you see?
I like how the snow has filled in the corners.
A storm is on the way.
Red sky at night.
We didn’t have many sunny days this week. MuMu made sure she took advantage of them.

77 comments

    • Thanks for following me AGAIN, Judy. On Monday, I will be sending my ninth major complaint to the Happiness Engineers. I’ll be sure to mention the absurd degree to which they are picking on you. We didn’t get a lot of snow, but a good first heavy snow. The worst part was that we had to drive while it was still falling heavily. But, as I said to my wife, “this is why we bought a car with four wheel drive.”

      We’re kicking off a cold spell. You’ll be missing some single-digit days ;-)

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  3. Love the “fractured ice” shot, and one of the Smokey’s waiting to stock up on peanuts. Maddie must’ve been so happy to get a walk in. MuMu is content with even a weak ray of sunshine. What a good girl. Your landscape looks just like ours, frozen and bleak. Sigh…..

    Have a relaxing weekend. Stay warm. Stay safe.
    Ginger

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Anonymous Ginger is back :)

      Maddie was happy to get out for a walk, but it’s not happening today It’s all the way up to 11 at the moment. It was 8 when we normally walk – no puppy, we aren’t going!

      MuMu will take any amount of sun. She jumps up and absorbs all the heat it has to offer.

      Our landscape is white and barren today. Stay warm!

      Like

      Reply

  5. I fear that might be my last glimpse of bunnies for a while. We got about 4 inches here and temps are set to dip below zero this week, enough to make all the critters seek shelter. Great ice shot!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. I think David is right! The things that used to annoy us are now missed. We are changing, the world is changing and I hope it is a positive one, ultimately. Love the ice, love the snow, I hope you aren’t sending it our way!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Perhaps this is like a trial of sorts. Two years to make us realize that life wasn’t as bad as we thought it was. I hope we emerge with a better respect for the world and each other.

      I think the storm was heading east to to the Atlantic, Pam. You should be OK. But, as I understand it, the cold weather that’s on its way here is coming from Canada. Thanks!

      Like

      Reply

    • No, the heaviest snow drifted (no pun intended) south of us. We got a solid 6″ maybe a bit more. A good first real storm. The worst part was that we had to drive during the storm, and the road crews were not staying on top of it. I read that they don’t have enough drivers to put all the plows on the road. I hope we all learned from this one, and are better prepared for the next one, when it comes.

      We are heading into the deep freeze GP, with lows the next 5 days between 0 and 5f

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  8. Freshly fallen snow is so lovely and your photos capture that magic perfectly, Dan. I love the final photo of MuMu. Precious! Have a great weekend, hopefully with plenty of sunshine. 🌞

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. I can’t believe I just said that Bud Light was the most popular beer on tap at the bar. 🤦‍♀️Somebody rip out my tongue! 😂I think MuMu might need a grow light, Dan. Love that image of the fractured snow. I say it every time, but you guys stay safe and warm.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks Cheryl – Bud Light is the most popular beer in America – maybe that’s our problem.

      MuMu comes out for the sun. Otherwise, she hunkers down near a wall with baseboard heat running across it. No dummy.

      We had to drive in the snow, but it wasn’t bad. Friday, we had freezing rain early – I do not drive in that. The last time I did, I introduced the front of my car to a building support column.

      Take care down there in paradise ;-)

      Like

      Reply

      • Haha. I have had the same thought myself. Maybe there’s something more than low alcohol in that brew. 😉Stay warm Mumu. Spring is waiting for her cue. 👍🏻 We’ll do our best down here. There is the Battle of the Ants and waiting for that perfect sunset shot. But seriously, life is not without its challenges wherever you are. I am very thankful not to be in the freezing cold though. Good plan to stay off the icy roads. You don’t want the death of a building support column on your soul.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  12. I’m looking at your photos, Dan, and wondering if you have more snow than we do in WI. It’s close, although we’ve already had a few snowfalls that melted. I’m starting to believe this is going to be a colder than normal winter, although January and February are always the coldest months. It’s something an upper Midwesterner will never miss! Cheers, I guess…

    Have a lovely weekend inside, writing posts and watching the furry ones snuggle up in their warmth.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I don’t know if my picture shows them well (iPhone) but there are 7 nests in that tree.

      Our driveway is about 80′, due to the placement on our small lot of the detached garage. The worst part is that the house and garage are aligned due north-south, so they block the winter sun. If I don’t clear it, the snow turns to ice.

      Skippy keeps trying.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • 7! That’s quite the squirrel neighborhood.

        I get the north-south alignment. Our house faces the same directions so our south side of the street placement means the snow melts last on our side and is icy longer while across the street if there’s any sun at all their snow melts and they don’t have to shovel their driveways or walks as much as we do on the south side of the street. We’re not complaining though as we have the view out back.

        Let’s hope Skippy keeps trying. 😀

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  17. I’m with David on crowded places. Of course, since COVID I haven’t had a complaint in that area.I haven’t been in a place in two years. I liked that fractured ice photo. The rest were terrific too but that one caught my eye. Thanks for the mention and have a great week, Dan

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  18. If we were having a beer I would be having mine room temperature and we would be on a remote session. Yes I am a paranoid freeze baby. I do not want to catch covid and I want to stay warm. I might just skip the beer and have some of that sippin sauce stuff. Neat. no ice. I do not like it in my beverages or on my walking/driving surfaces on ice Sam I am. As for blaming some things on Bud Light – a hard no. I will blame it on dumb really dumb politicians. For having the best hospital and medical system in world the numbers sure don’t support that claim. We as in the USA have twice the amount of Omicron infections as the rest of the world. The pretending it is the flu and that it is just going away is not working. Maybe we need to double our Bud Light intake to figure this Omicron covid thing out. UGH !!!! Did I just say that last part out loud ! ? ! ? !

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  19. on a train, or on a plane hand me that glass with which to drain. And easy the surface of my fevered brain. I would sip it with green eggs and ham. Short of that even Spam. I would sip it come rain or snow. I would sip it even though…

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  20. The older I get, the less I like crowds. Your lovely snow and ice photos remind me of how snow makes things quiet and less crowded, especially at night. Last night on the Carolina Coast the low was 28. Brrrr for us.I figure if it’s going to be that cold, it might as well snow and be pretty, but no such luck. Where snow is rare, it’s even more beautiful, so I always enjoy your snow pictures.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  21. We stopped at a couple of restaurants and cafes that were quite crowded on our road trip and I was a little worried we were taking a risk. But after two weeks, we seem fine. I heard another storm is heading your way so take care and stay warm!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  22. It seems like you had your share of the snowy holidays, Dan. I had a white Christmas with my daughter’s family and watched the grandkids making a snowperson. At least it isn’t several feet high of snow your way. But the dangerous thing is getting icy. I’m glad you had your favorite drink. Good thing about not being crowded is a shorter wait time to be served.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I visit during the typically slow times, Miriam. We had two white Christmas – it worked out well for us since schools were canceled and most people opted to work at home. Almost no traffic.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • My son-in-law works at home from the beginning of the pandemic, Dan. His work mostly is meetings and planning anyway. He surprised some engineers in Philippines with conference call, Zoom, etc. The two teams he is in talked about whether going back to work in the office. One team wants to remain working at home. With the new surge, they’ll work at home for longer. It was great the first year and a half when my daughter was pregnant and then the first year of the new baby.
        The traffic in southern CA is back to jam!!

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

        • In a lot of ways, the pandemic worked out well for some people. I had recently retired, and I wanted to take a break from travel, so the first year wasn’t much different than I planned.

          The technology linking people around the world is amazing.

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

          • The Zoom is a good byproduct of pandemic. It was hard for me the first few weeks of being restricted. But after that I’m more relaxed. Now the gym is open, I’m content with going to the gym and do things at home.

            Liked by 1 person

            Reply

Add your thoughts or join the discussion. One relevant link is OK, more require moderation. Markdown is supported.

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.