As wintry thoughts creep ever so close, memories of the last winter still make my skin crawl. Snowfall after snowfall, paralyzing a community. Ten foot piles of snow everywhere, ice packed curbs, downed power lines, tree limbs fallen, power outages, wildlife starvation, cattle stranded, people stranded, cold, cold, cold everyday...will it ever end. As I struggle to feed myself and maintain, as no business is coming in, it is even more of a struggle for the wildlife. Frozen surfaces cover food source for all forest creatures. My bird feeders are packed with desperate mouths, all vying for the bits of nourishment in feeders and on frozen ground...you wonder why my thoughts of Florida invade my future planning.
My Mother lives in Lake Placid, a beautiful little piece of inland Florida, till the Snowbirds come in the fall, but that could also be my salvation this winter, packing up the dog and my grooming supplies, a trip and temporary work is not far from my mind. And believe it, when I am out painting furniture in 80 degree weather in the middle of January and the temps in Iowa are below zero for weeks on end...the thoughts do cross my mind.
But such thoughts always come to mind this time of year as the warm weather drifts ever so slowly from our grasp. We know what lies ahead and for me it could be a simple matter of finances. These ain't the good ol' days anymore, with recession lapping at our heels, money is tight everywhere. But in the meantime I will squeeze all the goody I can out of the beautiful Indian Summer to come and pray to the Universe for steady biz.
