I'm just looking for some tush

With the holiday season officially over (almost), the scurs and their Weather Eye can focus on the weather at hand. Is Old Man Winter lying in wait or does he have other plans?

Starting Thursday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of afternoon snow. Highs in the low 30's with lows in the upper 20's. Mostly cloudy Friday with a good chance of snow. Highs in the upper 20's with lows in the low single digits. Partly sunny on Saturday with highs in the mid-teens and lows in the low single digits. Sunday, partly sunny with highs in the mid-teens and lows near zero. Partly sunny Monday with a good chance of snow. Highs in the upper teens with lows around zero. Tuesday, mostly cloudy with highs in the low 20's and lows in the mid-single digits. Mostly sunny on Wednesday with highs in the upper 20's and lows around 10 above. On the 21st we see our daylight increasing at just over two minutes per day. The normal high for January 21st is 21 and the normal low is 4. The scurs are watching the NFL playoffs for the "tush push."

 

Colder weather is upon us and it's not surprising. On the most recent 30-year normal for the SROC in Waseca, the period from January 16th - 23rd shows the lowest normal highs and lows as well as the lowest average temp at 12.7 degrees. We've led a rather charmed life in January with several days of well above normal temperatures so far and relatively light snow. As of last Saturday morning, the only measurable precipitation had fallen in the form of rain.

 

Even though we'll have chewed through over half of January by the time you receive hard copy, there is still plenty of time for the weather to get ugly. And don't count February out. More than once February's average temperature has been colder than January. In the most recent 30-year normal data, it also edged out January and March for 2nd place in the snow department, topped only by December.

 

The alien, as Cannon used to say, is on the loose now the holidays are over and kids are back in school. I thought perhaps I'd dodged this most recent outbreak, but it appears not to be the case. It arrived on Sunday with a dry cough and interrupted my beauty sleep. The next day, the aches and chills showed up along with a more persistent cough. I'm not alone. Between nasty colds and the flu, there are plenty of winter maladies to go around. Add to that the ice that many have to contend with since the snow melted. As one astute observer pointed out, once you've fallen and determined nothing is hurt except your pride, it's always a good idea to look around and make sure no one saw you fall. That would be bad.

 

I continue watching Adam-12 reruns for the old cars. Recently I wondered what the cop cars were that Reed and Malloy (mostly Malloy) drove. With the exception of the '67 Plymouth Belvedere used in the pilot on loan from the LAPD, the police cars were civilian models painted and decked out like the real thing. Producer Jack Webb insisted on it. The first car, based on what the LAPD was using at the time, was a '68 Plymouth Belvedere, equipped with a 383 cid V8 and 4 barrel carb. In '71, the LAPD replaced the Belvedere with the Plymouth Satellite, available with a 440 cid engine that cranked out 370 hp, so Adam 12 followed suit. In '72, the LAPD switched to an unlikely automobile, the AMC Matador. I thought I recognized those recessed door handles, something common to the AMC autos including the Gremlin. The LAPD's Matadors sported a 401 cid V8 that cranked out 255 hp. It could also do 0-60 mph in about 7.5 seconds. Even though the LAPD switched back to Plymouth again in 1975, Adam 12 stuck with the AMC Matadors until the show ended on May 20th, 1975.

 

Poppy's bunny population has taken a hit as of late. It's absolutely amazing how much unprotected woody vegetation they've managed to consume in the two months of winter we've experienced. Most of it isn't important, such as the suckers on the fruit trees, some of the aronia berries and dogwood. Seeing the damage, however, makes me glad for those few hours spent protecting the young apple tree, hydrangeas, forsythias, burning bushes and anything else that looked vulnerable. Even before the snow fell, there were signs that the cottontails were poised for an all-out assault. I've done my level best to eradicate them whenever I see them and can access my blunderbuss. I've even had to invest in more shotgun shells. However, as the saying goes, they breed like rabbits.

 

Even though the bunny population has dwindled somewhat, Poppy appears to have lost some weight. We've limited treats in frequency and amount along with cutting back on her food slightly. We've also allowed her to pursue squirrels and rabbits whenever possible, then playing ball inside as time allows. The result has been a sleeker, more active Corgi. Oh sure, she still likes her naps, but much of the time, the naps come after periods of physical exercise.

 

Unfortunately, Poppy's humans haven't caught up. The Christmas goodies have left their mark. Maybe if we chased more bunnies and squirrels.

 

See you next week...real good then.