brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

it has been very cold for the past two weeks. according to the farmer's almanac my sister picked up, we are not in for a break until march. brrrrrr. when it is really cold--below 30--i warm my bed up with the electric blanket before climbing in. i also have to wear a sweater under my robe and socks to keep warm while walking around the house in the evening. you know it is cold in your house when butter stays firm. we try to keep the thermostat upstairs at 60 and the one downstairs at 50. the plants don't seem to mind, although our christmas catus is confused and after blooming profusely at thanksgiving, it seems to be getting ready to bloom again. dennis, my cat, who came from the desert as a kitty, wants to sleep under the covers or under the blanket i put on my legs when i watch tv.

light polution

this photo was taken from a nasa site.

i was reminded of the map the other night when i couldn't sleep and was walking through the house.

in my room there is the light from the smoke detector, the powers strip, printer, cd player, computer. in the rest of the house--more smoke detectors, power strips, my sister's computer, the bathroom night light, stove , tv , tuner, dvd player, and sometimes the battery operated candles we have in the front room windows (sometimes we forget to turn them off). The house is never really dark unless the electricity goes off.

trip to zimbabwe

my son called me last night informing me that he was going to africa. i thought at first that he was joking, but he wasn't. this will be the second time he as been to africa. the first was to camaroon for six months to help with networking the campus. actually i think he networked the campus of our college in younde. now he is going with his boss and some other staff to network the campus at solusi university in bulawayo, zimbabwe. he said he would be there about 2 weeks, or less. i think the group will probably be taking extra food. the university is in danger of having to send its 4000 students home as there is a shortage of food. sadly, i don't know the history or politics behind the problem.