All Things Must Come DOWN eventually (watch out)

It's been another few days and nights of snow and howling winds again, we are still alive and safe....  well almost. Last night the wind howled throughout the day. Branches of all sizes and weights were falling down, several of a substantial size fell quite close to our camper minivan, so I moved it to a spot where hopefully, the winds wouldn't bring down anymore bits and pieces of nearby trees. Not even an hour later, a HUGE branch fell with a loud THUD outside our window. I looked out the window to see that huge tree on the ground where our minivan sat previously!

Screen-capture of our local CBS station WIVB
showing yesterday's top wind gusts. WoW!

I dashed outside into the winds and cold to see this branch measuring at least 3ft at its widest and about 40ft long lying across the roadway, and its end lying right next to a neighbor's car. I moved out a few smaller branches that fell off, tossing those by the side of the road. Things like this never happened where I used to be in San Francisco. But apparently, this stuff happens a lot in many parts of the world during snow and windstorms!

All fall down!

Eventually it was cut up into manageable pieces and pushed to the side of the street, as snow began to fall. Soon the road was white with the wind blowing waves of snow.....  it was a poetic but sad fact of life in snowy areas that I know little of, not really living in snow-affected areas 87% of my life. 

The weather though, has remained the same as it has been for some months: a few days of snow, enough to paint everything white again, then a few days of warm sunlight to melt the snow a bit, just enough to give one a slippery walk on the streets the next day! Plus it's been freezing or below for most of these past months, with perhaps less than 10 days of 40° degrees or above! 

That gloss on the snow is frozen ice ~ very slippery!

On the other hand, we have been enjoying some really tasty ice cream over the last few months. We gave up the real stuff for a low-fat version that is so creamy and tasty!! However, at another store, we found the "same" low-fat taste and flavor, but after we recently looked at the ingredients trying to find out WHY this low-fat version is so creamy, and what we discovered is incredible, and has changed our mind about where we'll be buying it in the future!

At one store, we are buying a big gallon tub for a very reasonable price, but sometimes it isn't available so we go to another store. At the other store, we checked the ingredients and saw "propylene glycol". 

What is that?

It's been approved by the FDA and not considered to be a threat to humans, but again, the FDA approved use of Opioid use also, and everyone knows how that is working out! This is what we discovered online: "Propylene glycol is a synthetic organic compound with the chemical formula C₃H₈O₂. It is a viscous, colorless liquid which is nearly odorless but possesses a faintly sweet taste. Chemically it is classed as a diol (an alcohol containing two hydroxyl groups in its molecule) and is miscible (This term is most applied to liquids, but can also apply to solids and gases. An example is water and ethanol, are "miscible" because they mix in all proportions) with a broad range of solvents, including water, acetone, and chloroform". 

Really?!!?

The FDA states it's an additive that is "generally recognized as safe" for use in food. Really???

So, we are returning to our original store and NOT buying it at the other store any longer. If you want to know where we were buying the "propylene glycol" version of the "creamy" ice cream, just email me and I'll tell you. We'll kindly do without it, thank you!!

If you and yours are in a weather-affected area, please stay safe and warm!