WHY I DON'T LIKE SNOW VERY MUCH

These are pictures of a parking lot on campus, taken 15 December. Yes, the snow is already piled in big dirty piles that will likely stick around well into March.
Snow looks beautiful, serene, and peaceful for about 10 minutes. Then, life takes over and we must get it out of our way. No snow days taken in Utah - no matter how deep it gets, or how fast it falls! This is my 13th consecutive winter here, and nothing has been cancelled for snow. Ever. Not even once.

It becomes dirty, nasty and totally ugly. I can feel good about calling it
"Mother Nature's White Trash."

THIS REPUBLIC OF SUFFERING

I've read this book over the past several months, a few pages at a time. It was quite fascinating, to see how the Civil War changed our culture's view of death. Since reading it, I've picked up on several references to ideas and mind-sets in our current lives. The accounting of soldiers' lives is always important - the total sum of the dead versus the individual deaths. Interesting, too, to see how the casualty reports affected military decisions, communities, and individuals.
If you are a Civil War buff, this is a must read.