When Tara suggested we put up our outdoor holiday decorations last weekend, I was hesitant. It seemed a little early to me; after all, the turkey was still in the freezer. I never like to rush the holidays along. But, she pointed out, it was going to be a balmy 50°.
“We should take advantage of the weather,” she said. “Next weekend is looking a lot colder.”
She had a point. One year in Rapid City, I decided to forgo decorating on a mild and sunny weekend in mid-November because I thought it was too damn early. “I’ll do it the Saturday after Thanksgiving!” I declared, but Mother Nature f’d up those plans by dropping over a foot of snow that weekend. I stubbornly tried maneuvering the ladder around the yard when the storm was over, but this proved impossible with all the snow and ice on the ground, so we had to go without Christmas lights that first winter in our new home. I didn’t want to make the same mistake twice, so I agreed to her plan.
This turned out to be a very smart idea.
All week long, they were talking about the possibility of snow the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Talk about deja vu. With every passing day, the forecasted amount kept going up. Six, seven, eight, nine inches…hey, maybe a foot! The Weather Channel was calling this Winter Storm Bellamy. When they started naming winter storms in 2012 a lot of people scoffed, but I like the idea. Why should hurricanes have all the fun?!
Often, these storms are overhyped. But Bellamy delivered the goods.
It started snowing around 4:00 a.m. Saturday and continued nonstop for 27 hours. When all was said and done, we had 10″ on the ground this morning.
Helluva storm, especially considering how lame last winter was (not a single named winter storm and our biggest single-day snowfall was a measly 4″). I’m a snow lover who lives for this shit, so bring it on!
Check out the lights on our juniper shrub. This is why we decorated when the weather was decent!
Even though Fort Atkinson declared a snow emergency and they were advising no travel, we traveled. Just five minutes into town because we needed a Christmas tree. Technically we didn’t need a tree…we have an artificial one…but we hadn’t done a real tree in years and wanted to mix things up.
So, we spent the day decorating inside and putting up the tree while the snow piled up. Laverne and Shirley approve.
It’s going to be pretty frigid around here for the next week, so all this snow ain’t goin’ nowhere. In fact, we might get a little more.
Luckily, our trip to Green Bay on Thursday looks clear but cold. I’m less sure about driving home on Friday, but Heart and Cheap Trick are worth it.
My Black Friday involved cheese and lighthouses
Even though Thanksgiving was just a few days ago, it already feels like the distant past. We had a nice day in the basement with a fire in the wood stove, our favorite movies on TV, a delicious meal, and plenty of wine. Do I miss having family around? Sure. Do I miss hosting? Nope. There’s a lot to be said for low-key Thanksgivings.
Tara had to work on Friday but I took the day off. With Bellamy approaching I knew we’d be housebound over the weekend, so I wanted to get out and do something. Something turned into a drive to Kenosha, a little over an hour southeast of us. Why Kenosha, you ask? I have three words for you: Mars Cheese Castle.
I won’t spend a lot of time talking about it, because (future blog post alert!) if ever there was a place ripe for a Wisco Wednesday, it’s this one. Suffice it to say there was plenty of cheesy goodness. I treated myself to a Bloody Mary because of that sign, but if theirs is the “best,” the competition must be weak.
My King’s Ransom sandwich was much better, and their “world’s best cheese curds” (they’re big on superlatives there) almost lived up to the hype. I might rank them in my Top 5.
And then, since I’d never been to Kenosha before, I decided to check out the town. I made my way to Lake Michigan, because I’m a sucker for lighthouses and they had a couple.
Yes, I walked out on that pier…and damn near froze my baguettes off. The wind whipping off the lake was fierce.
All in all, it’s been a pretty great holiday weekend. Hope yours was too!
Do you like the idea of naming winter storms? When do you put up your Christmas decorations? Have you gotten any snow yet? Real tree or fake?
Mark My Words 
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