Enough With the Snow & Ice, Already!

If I had wanted to live during an ice age, I would have experienced my first of nine lives about 15,000 years ago, instead of when I actually lived my first life (which will remain ambiguous, since a lady never reveals her true age).  Arctic and Antarctic weather are for polar bears and penguins, respectively, so I don't see why we should have to suffer through it as well.  So, whoever is in charge of such things, I am officially lodging a formal protest:  Enough with the snow and ice, already!

Yesterday, while the Lady With the Red Hair accompanied me to my library, she was kind enough to capture a few photos of the glacial conditions through which I must slog to cover the latest news stories for y'all.  Here are some shots taken from the MPL Indiana Room, where Scowl-Face usually hides out under the desk.

Abandoned Winged Dinner Huts:

Tell Horace Greeley to Go South, John B. L. Soule!

(This caption requires some explanation, so I relinquish this paragraph to Scowl-Face, who knows about such things.)  Horace Greeley (1811-1872), New York Tribune editor, is often credited with coining the phrase, "Go West, young man," since he included it in an 1865 editorial.  The phrase actually originated with John B. L. Soule, who used it in his 1851 editorial in the Terre Haute (Indiana) Express.  The correct phrase is, "Go West, young man, and grow up with the country."

(Now back to our regularly scheduled blog.)  The recent ice storm and incessant snowfall have frozen the library's water volcano solid.

Extinct Water Volcano in MPL Courtyard

(Yes, the Little Bump in the Middle)

It looks a little like a frozen troll, but it is, in fact, a functioning water volcano.  Mount Kilimanjaro it's not, but there are obvious similarities.  Both peaks, for instance, are snowcapped.

Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania

My library has a pathway to learning that connects the courtyard with the children's outdoor program area.  The trees and bushes along the pathway give some idea as to the severity of our recent winter weather.

You may think that this "small" amount of snowfall is nothing to get my tail all puffed out over, but let's see how you like it to be living outdoors in this stuff.  Walk around on your bare feet for awhile and see if you don't come around to my perspective.  This white stuff may be pretty when it is falling, but it chills us roving reporters to the bone.  Our paw pads are frankly frostbitten.  So make with the Spring, already!

Hey, Boss Lady, Where's the Outdoor Fireplace?  Just Asking,

Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Glacial News Beat