and even a little sunshine. Ice has been falling off our roof. Some wires have been knocked down, but everyone seems to have phone, internet and TV, so we don't know what the wires were about.

I really felt the need for exercise today. That strikes me as so funny. Only since reaching old ladyhood have I felt the need to exercise. Never in my entire younger life did I care. I drove over to the university area, parked the car and walked about two miles. Mostly the pavement was clean and dry so walking was very comfortable. The 40 degree air felt warm. A good day. Sidewalks near my apartment are still bad and the bus stop is impossible. I think is won't thaw until April. Tomorrow it's supposed to rain, or snow, or something. Next time I'll tell you about the other things I've been doing.

It's still snowing. The driveway was cleared, again, this morning. Now it's covered. I'm almost completely out of fresh fruit and vegetables. Sooner or later I have to go shopping, again. The question is always, Do I get out of the driveway and down my street, which has not been cleared. I'm going to school this morning. Maybe I'll stop on the way home and get something, then get the next bus. This is just nuts.

More snow on the ground when I woke up. Unceasing snow, with the exception of a few minutes here and there, all day. Thankfully not much accumulation; didn't have to clean the car after four hours parked outside. This has been a lost week. Thursday morning I had to go for a blood test (Coumadin). I got to the lab with only a few minutes anxiety on a bad street, then couldn't park. Went to the Giant Eagle inside parking and walked back to the lab, about a block away. Hazardous walking, for the most part. Spent some money at the store, went home, got stuck pulling into my driveway. Very embarrassing for this former Chicagoan. I have great neighbors; three of them came and shoveled me out.

Friday I trekked out to Squirrel Hill for an appointment I was supposed to have on Wednesday. I was warned about trouble parking. Left the apartment at 11:30 for my 1 pm appointment. Walked on the street to the Penn Ave. bus stop. Snow piled so high couldn't get to the stop. Too much traffic to remain on the street. Another hopeful passenger helped me climb the snowbank. Her bus came, not the one I wanted, leaving me standing two feet above the pavement with no idea of what to do. Had my walking stick, useful for the most part, but only minor help standing on top of this mountain.

Bus came twenty minutes late and I managed to get on. Felt like an acrobat. Got off more than a mile from my destination; started walking, first half mile in the street. Missed the next bus, by minutes, continued walking. Sidewalks in the business section were mostly cleaned off, but not where shops were empty. Still some walking in the street. Arrived about 10 minutes early for my appointment. This would have been a ten minute drive if I had been able to park.

At least two feet of snow in my front yard.

Missed the bus again; started walking back. Waited 20 minutes at the transfer point. Decided to take a different bus and go to a 4 pm appointment at CMU. No point in going home. Arrived an hour early; started walking to the library. Way too difficult; sidewalk almost impassable. Walked to meeting point, got a cup of tea, just sat around. Got a ride home.

Icicles hanging from the roof are really horrible. Everyone worries about their roofs. My phone line is probably at risk. I don't care so long as it doesn't take my internet access with it.

Snow piled on the bushes.

Most of the streets were finally clear today; parking is still awful. It's taken eight days to get to a merely passable state. Mountains of snow are everywhere. I hope the mayor of Pittsburgh knows that one of the mayors of Chicago lost his job because of poor snow removal.

Shabat dinner became a sleepover. I let Steve pick me up before dinner because I didn't want to clean my car to go home. I just figured he'd take his out of the garage and take me back. The other guests had to be shoveled out of the driveway so unprepared, without a toothbrush, I slept in the guest room.

Looking out the front door at 11 pm.

Darcy, after a not very successful walk. Note the snowballs on her feet. Her back legs were worse. She likes cold, but not snow.

Robin and I walked back to my house Saturday afternoon. She wouldn't let me go alone, my good daughter.

We were lucky. Those lines haven't come crashing down, yet. Lots of people lost power because of this circumstance.

My neighbor, Gene, spent Saturday and Sunday shoveling out the driveway and the concrete pad behind the garages. He says he liked the exercise. He's a great guy. On Monday, I took the car out of the garage and went to the fitness club, then next door to Trader Joe's. Today I'm staying home again. It just started to snow; we're supposed to get another 3 to 9 (?) inches on top of the 21 we got over the weekend that was supposedly Pittsburgh's fourth heaviest snowfall. I'm glad I never saw the other three, although I remember one in Chicago with 26 inches.

I'm feeling better today. Don't you love that? You don't know what I'm feeling better from, whether it was serious or not. Many years ago, probably 40, I was in Israel and received the daily letter from my mother: "My leg is better now." This was long before computers, email, cell phones. In fact, calling overseas, or calling anywhere in Israel at that time, was an incredible chore. I didn't know what to do. I had visions of having to cut the trip short. Finally an earlier letter showed up with an explanation: nothing serious.

So, I was sick with what seemed like a terrible cold. I was fine on Thursday, getting through a very long day. Pitt Osher presented a series of lectures about medical issues. I went to a lecture about the brain at 10 am, a lecture about the drug creation process at 1 pm, my pre-Columbian art class at 2:30, hung out in the library for 2 hours, then met my Chinese ESL students at 5:45 for a two hour session. Robin picked me up and drove me home afterward and I was fine the entire time.

I woke up Friday morning feeling not so great; by the end of the day I felt awful. Yesterday was even worse; I spent much of the day in bed, but got up and went for a walk in the afternoon. It was an unusually beautiful day for January and I didn't want to miss it entirely. Today I feel much better but the weather isn't very nice. I'm thinking about how I could go for another walk.

On Monday I went for a long walk with my neighbor and her dog. We drove over to the south side where there is a bike/walking trail created from unused railroad property. Here is a picture of Leo announcing he wants to go into the icy Monongehela River.

The river wasn't frozen over. The ice was moving downstream from wherever the Mon comes from.

Here are some other pictures I never got around to posting:

Looking at some of the Carnegie Mellon campus with the Pitt Cathedral of Learning in the background.

This is the courtroom where Abdul was sworn in as a citizen. I was thrilled he finally achieved his goal.

Abdul is holding the certificate of naturalization (and the shopping bag), the Somali woman next to him also became a citizen, next to her is Abdul's wife, holding Abdul's baby is a young woman who has been tutoring the other two children. 

I got really irritated yesterday afternoon listening to NPR talking about Pat Robertson's diatribe about the people of Haiti being afflicted because they made a pact with the devil in order to win their independence from France. I don't usually comment on these things, but this prompted me to send the following:

Why
do you repeat the nasty words of an obviously demented man. I'm sure
there is more important news than giving a platform to this religious
bigot.

I don't know what response I expected but I got this marvelously non-committal reply:

Dear Ruthe,

We appreciate your sharing your concerns with us.

We regret if you were offended by what you heard while listening to
NPR programming. Your thoughts will be taken into consideration. 

Additionally, NPR has an Office of the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is
the public's representative to NPR, serving as an independent source of
information, explanation, amplification and analysis for the public
regarding NPR's programming.   For more information about the role of
the NPR Ombudsman, please visit http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6407004

There was also something about all of this on MSNBC–Rachel Maddow's show. It seems to me he should be ignored instead of being given wider publicity, which I realize I am also doing. I guess this is one of those no win situations.

I did thirty consecutive posts.

Renee went back to NY this morning, ending my holiday. I really like having her here, but I also find I need time alone. I guess that comes from living alone all these years. I still have classes on Tuesday and Thursday and my ESL students. I'm planning a small supper party next Sunday so that should keep me busy all week. If I don't post again for awhile, you will understand.

Renee works as a volunteer for a large, national non-profit; she knows people all over the United States. Each time she has come to Pittsburgh she's mentioned friends she would like to see. Today was the day. We walked over to one friend's apartment then friend 1 drove us to friend 2, a farm on top of a mountain about 45 minutes out of Pittsburgh. There are cows, goats, donkeys, a horse, a dog and fish on the farm; all are pets. Another fun day.

We have much to be thankful for, including the fact that none of us had to prepare Thanksgiving dinner. Happy Thanksgiving, and Happy immediatist potlatch to you, Eli.

Walking behind the museum I saw this steep hill with wonderful wild plants. One of the employees told me there were cats and rabbits living there.

The little maple in the backyard is just beginning to lose it's leaves. All of the others are bare.

I stopped to rest in Mellon Park one day and found this scene. The bare trees are almost as good as the beautiful leaves.

Another beautiful day, and another walk; two miles this time. I can't believe this weather. I watched a long term, that is, five month weather forecast last week. It sounded bad–the rest of November was going to be bad, the temp would be below normal all winter and snowfall would be above normal. Then I watched a similar effort on another channel: warmer than usual, less snowfall. Amazing! These guys can't get it right 24 hours ahead. How do they have the chutzpah to predict for the entire winter.