Another UP Weather Update

/O.CON.KMQT.WW.Y.0001.000000T0000Z- 080130T1800Z/ MARQUETTE- INCLUDING THE CITY OF...MARQUETTE 508 AM EST WED JAN 30 2008

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM EST THIS AFTERNOON...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MARQUETTE HAS CONTINUED A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY...WHICH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM EST THIS AFTERNOON.

EXPECT NORTHWEST WINDS GUSTING AS HIGH AS 45 MPH THIS MORNING TO DROP WIND CHILLS TO 25 TO 35 BELOW ZERO AND CAUSE AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW. PLAN ON REDUCED VISIBILITY AS LOW AS ONE QUARTER MILE AT TIMES IN OPEN AREAS. THE WINDS WILL DIMINISH TO 15 TO 25 MPH THIS AFTERNOON...MODERATING WIND CHILLS TO 15 TO 25 BELOW AND DIMINISHING THE BLOWING SNOW.

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MEANS THAT SNOW...STRONG WINDS AND BLOWING SNOW... AND LOW WIND CHILLS ARE EXPECTED. BE PREPARED FOR SNOW COVERED ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES...AND USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.

 

Yesterday they were calling this a blizzard warning; the third this season. And the snowfall for this winter…106.7” to date. All schools and colleges were canceled this morning. That’s pretty impressive for the UP.

 

Make My Life a Prayer to You

I first started listening to Keith Green in high school with my brother and friend. I appreciated his musical talent, but frankly, at that time in my life the music wasn’t hard-core enough so I ditched it. After I reeled in my “wild oats”, I came back to his music and began to appreciate it for its message of holiness and no-compromise; something I certainly was NOT looking for in high school. Keith died in a plane crash in 1982, before I’d even heard of him. His music is still as meaningful today as it was when it was written, in a time of “spiritual journeys”, drugs, mysticism and the Jesus movement. If you’ve never heard of him, you no doubt have heard his music. Hymns such as “O Lord, You’re Beautiful” and “There Is A Redeemer”, as well as many choruses sang in churches and Sunday Schools. His life account is recorded by his wife, Melody, in her book “No Compromise: The Life Story of Keith Green” (1989). Although I don’t always agree with his theological stance, you have to admire his passion and zeal. I recommend the book. It’s an easy, quick read. Parents, you may want to read it before giving it to your teens. It’s not vulgar or profane, but it does describe life in the sixties and seventies (sex, drugs and rock-n-roll). If you think that he was just another contemporary Christian musical artist just singing words with little or no meaning, read his book. Any long-time readers of “sheep and goats” know that I quote his music from time to time. Here’s another one of my favorites of his.

 

Make My Life a Prayer to You

By: Keith Green

 

Make my life a prayer to You
I want to do what You want me to
No empty words, no white lies
No token prayers, no compromise

I want to shine the light You gave
Through Your Son You sent to save us
From ourselves and our despair
It comforts me to know You're really there

Well, I want to thank You now for being patient with me
Oh, it's so hard to see when my eyes are on me
I guess I'll have to trust and just believe what You say
Oh, You're coming again, coming to take me away

I want to die and let You give Your life to me that I might live
And share the hope You gave to me
The love that set me free
I want to tell the world out there
You're not some fable or fairy tale
That I've made up inside my head
You're God the Son, You've risen from the dead

I want to die and let You give Your life to me that I might live
And share the hope You gave to me
I want to share the love that set me free 

 

Not So Funny Now

I heard about a contest several years ago that judged silly warning labels. One that always struck me as odd was the label on a snowblower that read “Do not use snowthrower on roof.” Why is that necessary? "Obviously", I thought to myself, "some less-than-intelligent person tried this at one time and it ended badly." I don't see this warning label as silly, odd or the person who may have tried it as less-than-intelligent. Let me explain. So far this winter, we've had nearly ninety (90) inches of snowfall. It's not even the middle of January. And they say that February is when winter truly kicks in. I see snowblowers chained to chimneys...on roofs. And people use them...up on the roof. Seriously. They get so much snow up here that people actually have concerns of roofs collapsing. We have a friend whose garage roof did collapse under snow load. It was at the family property that was not their permanent dwelling. They didn't get out in time to clean off the roof, and it caved in. It's a genuine concern up here.
"How do you even function in conditions like that?" you may ask. Let me tell you. It's with this: (see photo)
That's right! This is called a Yooper Scooper. This is one of the best tools invented, next to the toaster. Be warned though. This may not work so well in all parts of the country. The snow we get in the UP is light and fluffy. Yeah, I know. Isn't all snow light and fluffy? Not like our snow. Our snow is very "dry" and powdery. An inch of our snow would weigh a fraction of what an inch of Northwest Ohio snow would weigh. To prove my point. After an eight inch snowfall here in northern Michigan, I can run my Yooper Scooper the length of the driveway piling and pushing all eight inches of it the full length of the driveway (maybe 30 feet in length). I can have the whole drive cleared in less than an hour with orders of magnitude less exhaustion, stress and strain on my body. If you want to order one and try for yourself, they were designed and are built right here in the UP. Website is here. And I've seen these used on roofs also.
Next important item is the snow tire. They make a huge difference on icy and snow covered roads. And if you can't afford snow tires and your all season tires still have good tread, try tire siping. For a nominal fee, most tire shops up here will sipe your tires. They have machines that will actually make thin cuts across the treads of your tires. This is proven to provide more traction on icy and snowy roads. Never heard of such a thing until we moved up here. Yoopers seem to be pretty practical. When we get a few years of UP living under our belts, maybe we'll invest in a "plow-truck", also very common up here. Most are circa 1970's trucks with nice plow blades on the front.
All in all, I can't complain. We do live on the side of a hill that has a substantially inclined road to access our driveway. And we have had instances where we couldn't get our vehicles up the road. We actually have a place at the base of the hill where we can park and hike up to the house (1/4 mile maybe). Only until a township plow truck comes along and plows and sands/salts the road (which may take a couple days). I just recently put snow tires on my car and I haven't had the opportunity to try them out on a decent snowfall yet. Maybe my hiking days are over! It's all a part of learning how to deal with a new environment. You adapt and adjust. And we'll survive. Oh, and we're supposed to get more snow this weekend.