Ain't No SunshineWhen She's Gone2014

Dateline: 13 March 2014

A little bit more than 12"

Yesterday we got hit here in Central New York state with the worst snow storm of the season. As far as snow storms go, it wasn't all that bad. I'd say we got around 12 inches. But, considering that this has been an unusually cold winter, and considering that the day before yesterday was warm and sunny (a perfect spring day),  getting 12" dumped on us was a disappointment. 

My wife, the lovely Marlene, was watching the weather reports real close earlier in the week, and  dreading this impending snowstorm. They were saying the storm would hit central New York on Wednesday (yesterday) and she had plans to fly out of Syracuse to sunny Florida on that day.

But she got out just in time. We drove to Syracuse in the rain. I dropped her off at the airport at 7:00 am and her flight took off at 8:00. I was just getting home at 8:00 and the rain was just turning to snow. A couple hours later we were in a whiteout here.

Later in the day Marlene called to let me know she was at the Tampa airport and everything had gone just fine with the flights. Her sister was flying in from Arizona and due there shortly. Then her brother and sister-in-law (who live down there) were picking them up. So it's a mini family reunion in Florida.

This morning I got a picture of Marlene's bare feet in the sand on a Florida beach. It was a sunny picture, exuding warmth. I saw the picture after snow-blowing out my driveway. The wind was whipping. The temperature was below zero. My fingers were so cold they hurt (even though I wore gloves). I ran warm water over them to get them thawed out.

So I'm sitting here now with the wood stove crackling. I'm keeping the home fires burning. And I've got Bill Withers playing on YouTube. Bill Withers sings Ain't No Sunshine. I play the song for myself when Marlene takes her annual spring vacation to visit family. It's a very appropriate song:

"Ain't no sunshine when she's gone. It's not warm when she's away."

Why don't I go to Florida? I don't go primarily because I would come home to a nightmarish backlog of Planet Whizbang orders. January and February are relatively slow months for my business but it picks up in March. In the first three days of this week I mailed out over 100 orders for books, clothespins, and chicken plucker parts. Those orders keep the bills paid around here. I don't have to go to a wage-slave job every day but I'm still working at keeping products made, and in stock, and getting orders shipped out. It's a full-time job. I have to keep any vacations to maybe three days on a weekend. But that's okay. I like being home and having work to do.

Though I'm bemoaning my plight here in a snowstorm, while Marlene is in sunny Florida, the fact is, I'm very glad that she's down there having a good and relaxing (hopefully) time. She needs a vacation more than I do. She rarely has much time for herself and for relaxing when she is home. So it's a good thing, this vacation.  But I'll be glad when she's back.