Icewind's Ramblings

This past weekend I had the semi-unpleasant experience to drive from the mountains down toward the collapsed bridge on Interstate 85 at Piedmont Road. I was headed to the IKEA store off I-85 at Fourteenth Street. I started seeing the warning signs for the Interstate closure about ten miles north of the shut-down exit so I decided to get off in my old stomping grounds of North Druid Hills Road, go by my old high school and see what changes to the area over the last twenty years I was away in Alaska.  Traffic was horrible as everyone was trying to find a way to get around the closed area.  Stopped bumper to bumper vehicles with an exit time of twenty minutes to get off the ramp made me remember why I left Atlanta so many years ago.  I cannot stand the traffic or the totally bent drivers trying to get in front of everyone. Driving by the school I saw many changes.  The sign our class erected was gone and like many schools across America was run down and looked ...

Wishing all the mom’s everywhere the Mother’s Day that you deserve! Ice and Placido Flamingo

It's that time of year when the birds are out in full force hitting the bird feeders in the yard and on the deck.  It is so interesting to watch them early in the morning as dawn breaks and the darkness fades to a warm glow on the horizon.  The birds will start chirping at first light but do not start actively moving around until actual sunrise. How they know it is sunrise baffles me since it changes daily but the birds stay tranquil until then each morning.  Once daybreak hits it becomes a busy time on the deck as the fifty or sixty birds start coming to the deck feeder and to the sunflower seeds I have placed on the handrails and deck surface.  The yard feeder also comes alive with birds hitting it as the squirrels gather the seed or peanuts I’ve thrown out each day.  It is so enjoyable to watch them even on rainy days as they gather and perch under the handrail staying out of the rain coming down. There are probably about thirty or more different species...

Yesterday I was going to a local cabinet shop and on the way there saw a vehicle stopped on the side of the road and the guy was standing beside the vehicle looking around.  When he saw me he started waving at me to stop and talk with him.  He was lost and looking for an area close-by but was having a hard time finding it.  I used my trusty phone application; Wave and put in the location he wanted and shortly it brought up on my phone the directions how to get there.  It is an amazing app that works well and I have used it since leaving Alaska over a year ago.  It works off the phones GPS and even if you lose the signal it will continue to guide you along the way.  Talking with the man, his name was Leroy and he had relocated his family from a busy city in Florida to live in the foothills of the Appalachia Mountains.  He was looking for the place he was going to be working and told me about his family who was excited to make the move north....

A couple of days ago on Facebook Dave Hendrix shared a really funny story that was on the Modern Man page about a guy who in college was taking a Russian language class and really didn’t want to be there thinking it was a Spanish class he signed up for.  It starts off pretty funny then he goes in to the class taking a trip to Russia and getting involved with the Russian mafia.  Thanks Dave it was a great laugh.  This got me to thinking about a story I wrote for my gaming forum back in 2005 a few years after I arrived in Alaska.  I wanted to share it with you. For those of you that know me, or have been around me over the years know that I like to share with you my little special stories. Those moments in your life that brings out that part of your personality or quirkiness that may not be seen most days or nights. Most of you know that the nickname I have had for many years is Icewind which equals = cool farts.  It was better than “Bugle Butt” which my ...

A friendly cup of coffee . . . Today it is raining and I cannot work on the outside things I wanted and I really don’t feel like doing some of the inside things I need to get done so I am sitting here with a cup of coffee watching the many birds hit the feeders on the deck and in the yard.  There are golden finches, cardinals, blue birds, squirrels and many others flying all around.  The weather is just a good soaking easy rain not like the several lightning and thunder storms around lately.  The rain has a chance to penetrate the Georgia red clay ground and this rain is good for the plants, trees, and grass which has all transformed this area into a lush green haven for everything.   Sitting here and watching the birds going about their business of foraging food, flying around seeking shelter from the rain I pleasantly enjoy my cups of coffee and am once again reminded about how stressful life is for many of us.   I remember a story from a semin...

I had to make a quick trip to Lowe’s this morning for some needed materials for a project I’m working on and decided at the last minute to not make the turn leading back to the house and drove on instead to the grocery store for something I remembered I needed.  I had gotten a couple items but for some reason was drawn to something where I grabbed two items I may not normally get, yogurt. Now I normally do not eat this and go in spurts eating these little tasty morsels but trying to be healthier thought I would give it a try.  I opened up a container of Strawberry yogurt, and under the lid it said, "Please Try Again". Since this is not a normal thing for me to eat my first thought was I might have opened the yogurt container wrong . . . or maybe Yoplait was trying to inspire and encourage me. 'C'mon, Ice, don't give up, “Please try again”. It was there probably because they were having a contest I was unaware of. But I kind of like the idea . ...

Life Observation # 185 Will this Matter?             I’ve been on the road now for over a year discovering things about myself, friends and family along the way.   My popup reminder on FB today reminded me that a year ago I was leaving my friend, Russ home in Canada after spending a couple weeks talking about life and exploring the beautiful area where he lives. We discussed many things both past and present that we had encountered over the many years we had known each other starting as an online friendship and once we met in person it developed into a real life best friend relationship even though we had lived several thousand miles apart.  Like the saying goes, true friends’ miles and time do not matter as it will remain strong through it all. I used to get really worked up about many things, traffic especially when I lived in Atlanta and as I dealt with business and family matters I was probably pretty intense at ...

Have a great day! Enjoy your day. Hey, what a good day it is! You've heard and probably used these expressions many times.  It is something we do or say automatically.  Have a nice day!  It's a common courtesy.  But what really makes a good day for us? If you've read this far, then I suspect you're already involved in the fight for making it a great day. It’s a choice one makes each and every morning if you are a lucky one and wake up this morning.  Did you know it's awfully easy to NOT have a good day?  Seems like we are always trying to push water uphill or teach a pig to sing (we don’t rent pigs).  People get bogged down in the everyday mundaneness that we sometimes fall into.  The choice is made to just exist some days. A bad day is one that ends in leaving most of us depressed.  But the fact is we do have some really good days.  Waking up just before sunrise to witness the color changes as our new day begins wit...

Traveling Life’s Highway – Recalculating 2.0 - One Year on the Road “. . . For this time in my life I am “Recalculating”.  I’m on a journey to maybe go back and find that other road; the one “not taken” so long ago.  In this search to adjust attitudes, latitudes, and balance, finding possibilities I will open my arms to what’s in store for me. ” (Recalculating - Icewind’sRamblings blog post 4/2/2016) I’m turning 65 today and my mama 88.  She is in Florida having surgery on her hand and I am in the mountains, laptop trying to write occasionally and power tools building things with my hands once again. Judy, Mama, and I It’s been a year now since I have been on the road traveling life’s highways in search of myself and the things I hold dear to my heart.   When I left Alaska I was not sure what I would find and only a proposed mini-map of where I was going.   The road had been long, winding and with several bumps that I had not anticipated when...