Nothing too exciting going on here in Okemos. We mostly just sit around looking at the thermometer, wondering which could sink lower; the temperature or Trump. Currently, Trump is winning the race to absolute zero. We’re in the single digits, his IQ seems just a bit lower.
It’s been too cold to do much in my workshop that Lise wants to use as a garage. The workshop/garage isn’t insulated or heated. I try to make it useable with both a kerosene and a propane heater. At one point it was cold enough that the lubricant on the table saw motor gummed up and wouldn’t let the blade spin. If I tried to run the saw, the blade would start spinning, then stall and pop a circuit breaker. I had to lower the blade and turn it on for a couple seconds, then quick turn it off. Each time I could get to go a little longer. It took about ten minutes to get the blade spinning without popping the breaker, then another five minutes of running before I could cut wood with it. That was with both heaters going.
Lise hurt her hip so we haven’t been getting out much for hiking or birding. About the only species we’ve added to the yearly list is a snowy owl that was found a few miles from here. We were driving and scanning the area where it was reported, with no luck. We were getting ready to head back when some birders pulled up and pinpointed it for us. The owl did an excellent job of urban camouflage. We drove past it a couple times and I looked right at it thinking it was a farm building vent pipe.
Snowy owl camouflaged as a vent pipe.
Ed's and Lise's Biggish Years 