Weather Out the Window

The weather is always of interest.  We want to know what's predicted so we can plan what we wear, what we pack for a trip, what we are going to do outside, whether we are even going to venture outside.  Will we need an umbrella, a sun shade or snow boots?  Do we need to water plants or cover them up?  Is it the season to rub in how nice the weather is to our distant family and friends?
We watch the news to catch the weather, we check our weather apps and websites.  The "weather" person is now a meteorologist with information from thermometers, barometers, anemometers, doppler radar and weather satellites to give us a forecast.  Yet, with all their tools, their forecast so often goes out the window, so to speak.  
Our forecast in Greer has been quite out the window of late.  The "Big" snowstorm turns out to be a bust, while we really weren't expecting much snow today, but it started falling mid morning and hasn't stopped yet.  We've been shoveling throughout the day to clear paths for guests and sweeping entryways to keep down the amount of snow brought in on boots.  Tomorrow we may be shoveling cars out so they can get home.
While I still watch the forecast, check an app or website, what I find most helpful and accurate is to look out the window and see what's really going on.

Haberstock Herald 2015

Many years ago I began composing a letter to send to all our friends and family entitled "Haberstock Herald".  Here it is for 2015.

Haberstock Herald 2015

It's been a year for new things:

v  a new business and learning to use our smart phones, instagram, building a website http://whitemountainlodgebnb.com ,writing a blog http://greerazgazette.blogspot.com and posting to our business facebook page https://www.facebook.com/whitemountainlodge/

v  a new location - from Phoenix to Greer, desert to mountains, a white Christmas

v  a new church - from Scottsdale Bible with thousands in attendance to Calvary Chapel in Springerville with less than half a percent of that attendance, but with big and beautiful hearts for the Lord

v  new friends - from fellow business owners to the small population of full time residents in Greer

v  a new puppy - Lyn brought home an 8 week old Labrador puppy from Safeway...definitely not on the list...she has become our entertainment and fitness trainer and we truly enjoy her

v  new careers - while Jim still works for Honeywell remotely, Lyn is busy keeping a lodge clean and ready for guests, fixing breakfast, managing reservations and accounts and publicity, painting, staining.....Jim is landscaper, snow blower/shoveler, repairer and helper in his spare time

The Girls:

v  Kara and husband, Nate, are in Tucson.  Kara is a research specialist at U of A working with GIS mapping software which is definitely out of our skill set.  Kara just had surgery to remove melanoma from her arm.  Please pray it never comes back.  Nate is doing research this year as an interim between years 2 and 3 of medical school.  He wants to eradicate Crohn's Disease.  Go Nate!

v  Lauren is in her final year at Pepperdine University.  She spent the summer with us in Greer and worked hard at a little cafe.  Everyone loves Lauren...she did nicely in tips!  Plan A for next step is working in a school system in Germany on a Fulbright Scholarship. Awaiting selection results.

The Big Trip:

v  Lyn's mom, Nancy, turned 80 this year.  Instead of the traditional birthday gathering, Lyn and sister, Laura, planned a trip to New York.  It was a bucket list item with no checkmark.  One mom, 2 daughters and 2 granddaughters flew to NYC and they did it their way and had a blast!

We wish you all newness in your lives, especially the newness of life, peace and joy that only comes from our savior, Jesus the Christ.  

Yellow Snow and Feeling the Temperature

The weather outside is frightful, but the beautiful snow is delightful, so I sing let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.   But when the dog goes out it becomes....yellow snow, yellow snow, yellow snow.
Zella and I went out for a walk today after storehouses of snow dropped 7 inches.  The sun was shining and the air literally sparkled with snow dust being blown off trees.  Zella happily pounced in
drifts of snow and searched for buried treasure.  She looked like Zella Claus with a white beard.
 I had checked the weather site for Greer before we left and it said current temperature was 14 degrees but it felt like 2 degrees.  I'm sure there is a math formula to calculate the effect of the wind, but do they back up their data with experiment?  Just wondering if people have actually gone out in the buff and confirmed that the temperature really feels like 2 degrees instead of 14 when a little wind is blowing. Has anybody else ever wondered about this?  I'm not going to volunteer to provide proof of their claims, so I'm taking their word for it and layering up.

Glitter Glitter Everywhere

Saturday was our first Winter Wonderland in Greer.  The craft table was neatly organized.  The stars, sequins and glitter were all in their own containers.  All was ready and calm until the first group hopped off the hayride.
I gave instructions to the hovering parents and hoped we could keep things under control.  After the first group left, nothing was in order. The sequins were all mixed up with glitter.  One mother, instead of allowing her child to use one star at the top of the tree ornament, helped her decorate with half the plate of stars.  Paint brushes for dabbing glue on pine cones and felt ornaments were caked in glitter. Sparkles were everywhere.  That's when I decided to just keep calm and sparkle.
In a child's eyes there is never too much glitter, as one child pleaded that there was still room for more.  Glitter fell from there over-saturated creations as they explored the lodge and enjoyed treats and cider.
At the end of the day, Jim and I carefully gathered the plastic table cloth and funneled a container's worth of glitter into a bowl to be used for next Saturday.  Sparkles are inside and outside and I may still be finding them clinging to something next spring.  That's ok....I like sparkles and they will remind me of the wonderful time the kids had showering their ornaments with glitter.