Brrrr, brrrr, brrrr, lookin’ out my front door. Snow was falling Wednesday night, Jan. 30, in our little  corner of the world. Which was surprising. According to the forecast, the snow should not have been falling south of the Union-Jackson county line. I’m just sayin’...A bit of an update...a couple of weeks ago, we shared this image with you. The “old-time” photo was discovered recently at The Paragraph Factory. One person shared on Facebook that the photograph was taken at the corner of Davie Street and Main Street in Anna, where the First National Bank originally was built. Another person shared an email which suggested that the photograph probably was taken around 1878 or 1880. Not by me, though. Thanks, folks, for sharing your information...and for reading this...

A really, really lame parody...and a shameless plug...

Please read this. . .

This week, we’ll start with apologies to John Fogerty, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Buck Owens, all of the folks out there who know how to write lyrics to a song, and anybody and everybody who likes good music...

 

Just got home in Illinois, freezin’ cold outdoors, oh boy!

Tried to sit down, take a rest on the porch

Frostbite starts settin’ in, pretty soon I’m freezin’

Brrrr, brrrr, brrrrr, lookin’ out my front door.

 

Squirrels doin’ cartwheels, birdies findin’ bread heels

Look at all the ice cold critters frozen on the lawn

Rabbit ears antenna, list’nin to the forecast

Brrrr, brrrr, brrrr lookin’ out my front door.

 

Ice cubes and snowflakes are layin’ on the land

Polar Vortex needs to change its tune. Brrrr, brrrr, brrrr. 

Frozen apparition provided by magician

Brrr, brrr, brrr, lookin’ out my front door.

 

Ice cubes and snowflakes are layin’ on the land

Hope that spring time gets here soon. Brrrr, brrrr, brrrr.

Warm my frozen fingers, and the frozen singers

Brrrr, brrrr, brrrr, lookin’ out my front door.

 

Winter troubles Illinois, froze the front door, oh boy!

Look at all the ice cold critters frozen on the lawn

Warm my frozen fingers, and the frozen singers

Brrrr, brrrr, brrrr, lookin’ out my front door.

 

The lame parody which you just read came to mind Wednesday night, Jan. 30, when your ice-addled scribe looked out the front door and saw some more SNOW covering the frozen landscape.

Some of you folks may be familiar with “Lookin’ Out My Back Door,” which is a tune by one of my all-time favorite groups – Creedence Clearwater Revival.

To be honest with you, I had never really taken a close look at the song’s lyrics. When I did, it got me to wondering:

Why were giants doing cartwheels? Why was a statue wearin’ high heels? Why were tambourines and elephants playin’ in the band? How, exactly, does one take a ride on a flyin’ spoon? And, how, exactly, does a spoon fly?

At this point, some folks are probably just shaking their heads and saying to themselves: He doesn’t get it. It’s a metaphor, man. Giants are always doing cartwheels, with statues wearing high heels.

I guess the bottom line is that song and its lyrics are from the 1960s. I think. And that may be all that needs to be said.

And I’m thinking that maybe instead of stepping out on our front porch when the temperature was about 12 degrees and snow was falling, again, I should have stayed inside, where it was warm, well sort of.

The Other Half and yours truly are somewhat experienced in coping with wintry conditions, given that she started the Journey Through Life in Montana and my adventures began in Michigan. 

However, the almost unbelievable cold brought to us by the Polar Vortex was a bit shocking. Maybe it was the headline about the wind chill temperature of 77 degrees below zero that was recorded somewhere in Minnesota. 

***

P.S. Sunday afternoon. Life is good. And much, much warmer. Yours truly sat outside on the front porch, in the sunshine, snoozing. Was not freezing. Brrrr, brrrr, brrrr.

***

Time for one of my periodic Shamless Plugs: The Friends of Stinson Library are planning to sponsor a winter book sale Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 8-10. The sale will be at Stinson Memorial Library in Anna.

Since it’s only February, we’re probably going to have some more freezing weather – which would be the perfect time to sit down in your favorite chair, under a nice, warm quilt, hot drink in hand, and read a good book. 

Head to the Anna library and see if you can find yourself a book with a story that’s set someplace where it’s a little bit warmer. Like Antarctica. I understand it was warmer at the South Pole last week than it was here in the Midwest.

Again, in the interest of full disclosure, yours truly is an honorary member of the Friends of Stinson.

 

 

The Gazette-Democrat

112 Lafayette St.
Anna, Illinois 62906
Office Number: (618) 833-2158
Email: news@annanews.com

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