WHERE IS SPRING

Here in the Carthage area we have over 173 inches of snow so far, thankfully it melts and packs down and settles, our state, county and local DPW crews are living in their trucks and snow plows as it has snowed since Wednesday!!!!!

Other snow amounts in inches close by us are, Barnes Corners 247, Oswego 232, Highmarket 237, Redfield 318, Watertown 79.

The Town of Redfield in the Tug Hill Plateau gets their fair share of snow each winter, but they've already gotten more than their fair share this season they had 311 but its gone up!!!.

There is a car buried in this picture below!!!

They've already seen 318 inches, and their average is 300! Some Redfield residents say one more big snowfall, and they won't know what to do with the snow, there's no more room. Not only have they seen 25 FEET of snow in total, none of it is leaving, because there has only been about two days over the freezing mark in the past couple of months.

The folks in Oswego County like us are used to lake effect snow, but the DPW says Friday marked the most snow it has gotten in one storm -- the DPW estimates close to 30 inches in one day.

The record coldest temperature for northern NY is -52° below zero at Old Forge February 18, 1979. Some communities have recorded temperatures of -40° below zero or colder, most of them occurring in the northern half of the state and that’s where we are…records from 35 to 45 days with below zero temperatures in normal to severe winters, so far we have dropped to 29 below this year!!! As a boy I remember temps being 40 below for days and days!! You could say this is an “Old Fashioned Winter.

How do you start a car at 30 below zero??? When I was a young-un We burned wood and coal in a big old Kalamazoo # 58 wood and coal furnace in the basement of our house, my father would open the furnace door and take a small shovel full of red hot coals, walk down to the car(*1947 Plymouth, 4 door) and let one of us boys hold the shovel full of coals and move it back and forth and around in a circle under the Oil Pan to heat up the oil so it would not be so thick and then Dad would come in and get the old 6 vold battery that was warming up beside the big old wood stove we had in the basement and carry it down to the car and hook it up and presto, the car started!! The starter was a push button on the dash, the dimmer switch was on the floor, she was standard transmission, had rain gutters over all windows and a sun screen scoop over the front windshield which was in 2 pieces with a bar down the middle!!

WELL: it was a nice Birthday, lot of cards, calls, emails, and best wishes!!

We went to our friends Saturday, ate, snacked, talked, solved the world problems, played Euchre for about 5 hours, lost 4 to 1!!!

Then we grilled outside in the garage where it was cold and snowing outside but warm by the grill!!!!!

Standing outside it was very very cold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We kept the girls in the kitchen busy cooking!!!!!

WE came in the had grilled bone-less Pork Steaks, salt potatoes, dressing, home-made bread and a tossed salad.

After Dinner I had a nice birthday cake and card from our best friends of many, many years!!!!!!! I'm a lucky man!!!

Today church was lacking a few due to the weather, sickness and "Spring-Break" here, schools closed, teachers and kids have flew the coop to florida, mexico and parts that are WARM!!!

Hope everyone starts out this week enjoying themselves and everyone stay healthy, !!!!

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Lets not forget our men and women serving their country in far off places and here at home!!!