Friday, January 9, 2009
Good morning, Kuwait!
It wasn’t supposed to be this cold this morning! I think it must have been another freezing night last night, but between extra blankets and the Qatteri Cat, we slept just fine. We were in Al Ghanim last night, and saw a big sale going on – space heaters! Everyone was out buying heat.
It is going to be another glorious day in Kuwait! Dress warmly, get out there and enjoy your Friday!
We watched Valkyrie and my husband said it stayed very close to the historical events. It wasn’t very exciting, or moving, to me. I think I might’ve changed the ending. 😉 The funniest moment in the film was where AdventureMan said “I think that coughing is coming from someone in the audience, not from the film” and from time to time, we saw a head pop up in the lower left hand corner.
Struggle-to-Get-Up Sunrise
I can tell it is warmer – barely. It is 48F/8C and not a few degrees less, like before. It is still pretty chill, especially if a wind blows. Qatteri Cat and AdventureMan and I have piled on the blankets, but oh, it is a struggle to get up on these cold winter mornings.
Looks like the sun is having the same problem.
In spite of the slow start, it is going to be much warmer today, so be sure to have a lighter weight sweater under those heavy coats with which you will start the day.
Have a great day, Kuwait, and a great weekend, too! 🙂
A Little Slow
No sunrise this morning – I missed it! When it is cold like this, we end up reading in bed, and before we know it, the book is falling over, and we give up and turn off the lights. Thanks to a little coffee late in the day and going to bed early – I was awake in the middle of the night for about an hour, then when the alarm went off this morning, no, I just didn’t want to get up.
Once up, Qatteri Cat and I just huddle together her on the couch. It feels warmer, but . . . not warm! I have projects lined up, and a thousand things to do . . . and I just can’t seem to get started. I DO love this weather, at least I love it once I am outside and warm and toasty in the sun.
I am also having a problem staying home these days – are you? Most of the year I happily stay inside except for maybe early early in the morning for swimming or an early run for groceries. Now? Any excuse will do. I love NOT using the air conditioning, having windows open in my car, being so comfortable. And I am not getting anything done in the house.
I know these times are fleeting, and not to worry, just to go with it and enjoy it . . . I am feeling so LAZY!
Sunrise Epiphany
It is a golden, glorious sunrise this morning, a little chop on the water, not so much as to even make a whitecap, just a ruffle.
It is still COLD. The temperatures for the rest of the week show a slow, gradual warming of both the maximum and minimum temperatures. We may have just seen the worst of winter.
I have pulled out my toastiest Land’s End fleece robe, bought when I lived in a tiny German farm village, where temperatures got low and stayed low. Because my apartment there had in-the-floor heating, we were always too hot! Maybe once a year, in Kuwait, I pull it out to keep me warm. This was the morning. Although it seems like it is getting warmer, the cold seeps into my building through the concrete walls and marble floors, a little colder every day.
The Qatteri Cat has decided not to get up quite yet. “It is too cold,” he complains, as he grabs his baby and goes back to bed.
Dress warmly, and get out to enjoy another glorious day in Kuwait. 🙂
Sunrise and Forecast
Good morning, Kuwait, it is another gorgeous day. It didn’t get quite so cold last night (couldn’t see my breath as I breathed out, could you?) and there is not a cloud in a sky. Put on your sweaters, go out and take a walk! This is perfect weather! And it will last this entire week!
The sunrise this morning is almost identical to yesterday’s sunrise. Oh Kuwait, go forth and take advantage of this great weather!
The Upside Down Day
Yesterday was a totally upside down day, where I never really knew what to expect. First, my husband was already up when I woke up, and when he heard me stirring, came into the bedroom with his great big smile and shining eyes and said “Let’s go to the Early Bird for breakfast!”
I laughed, and dropped my morning routine and plans to enjoy this delightful surprise. Quickly dressed, we were out the door well before seven, even well before sunrise. As we drove into Fehaheel, I managed to catch the sunrise, although I didn’t see it until this morning when I finally had time to sit down and organize myself. This is for you, Daggero, yesterday’s icy morning sunrise!
Believe me, that shot is a surprise – we were at a stoplight, briefly, and I shot it through the window, not the ideal way to shoot a sunrise. Lucky shot, beautiful day.
The Early Bird was closed! Closed through today! What to do!? AdventureMan remembered seeing a small place deep in the heart of Fehaheel, and we’re in Fehaheel, it is not yet seven ayem and the streets are empty. We drove to the “Arabic Early Bird” and miracle of miracle, on a street that teems with traffic day and night, at 0h-dark-thirty in the morning, it is open and there is a beautiful parking spot, a LEGAL spot, available. We take this as a sign that we are meant to have breakfast there.
Indeed, the cook is ready, and already has betinjan (eggplant) and felafel all fried up for us – YUM!
The waiter brings us all kinds of goodies, most of which are totally delicious. This is my first time eating tomato scrambled eggs, which Mishary wrote about in Some Contrast sorry I can’t find the original article, but he shows you how to cook them. I think he used 12 eggs! Some of the pickles are strange to our taste, but the food is hot and fresh and delicious, and washed down with hot tea.
More food that we could eat! When we got the bill, it was KD 1.750. What luxury! 🙂 What a great way to start the day, in every way not what we expected.
Cold, So Cold in Kuwait
Last night, in the middle of the night, even my normal blanket and the Qatteri Cat weren’t enough. I was COLD. It seeped right through the blankets and into my hips. I was too sleepy to get up, and shifted position, trying to find a warm place, but finally, I had to give up and go get another blanket.
“Do you need some more blanket?” I asked AdventureMan, but he said no, he was fine. I covered up the Qatteri Cat entirely, and in moments was warm and toasty and drifting back into sleep.
A couple hours later I feel a nudge and a cold leg drifting up next to me, and AdventureMan whispers “I’m cold!”
I tell him to snuggle up, but then he says he is still cold and I remind him there is another blanket on the end of the bed, and he, too, covers up and is quickly back to sleep.
When I got up this morning, it was cold, so cold I have to wear slippers on the cold marble tiles, and a shawl against the chill. Even hot coffee isn’t enough; soon I have to head for the shower, a nice HOT shower.
Weather Underground says it is -1°C in Kuwait. I believe it. I believe with the wind chill, it feels even colder.
And, Daggero, just for you, that icy-cold sunrise you asked about yesterday (although check later today, to my surprise, I do have a sunrise from yesterday!)
Not a cloud in sight. Only that pollution laying out there on the horizon. I can only imagine the chaos snow would dump on the Kuwait traffic. It would be utter bedlam.
Bundle up, Kuwait! It is COLD out there!
Never-Ending Sunrise 2 Jan 09
Good morning!
We stayed up late last night watching movies. At my normal time this morning, I woke up and told myself I could go back to sleep, but . . . sleep didn’t come. I don’t know how it works for you – I am a morning person. Once I am awake, I am awake. And it was just about time for a sunrise, so I joined the Qatteri Cat in the living room, and took a photo of a very grey, very cold, day.
I thought yesterday was WARM. I had headed out, all bundled up for winter, with AdventureMan, and we were both warm almost as soon as we got in the car. I had to take off a layer as we ran our errands. Late last night, seeing our guests off, we were both shivering in the cold – the weather changed so quickly.
Here is what it looks like this morning:
Here is the dawning at 0630:
Just 15 minutes later, a whole new sky:
And another 15 minutes it looks like an artist took paintbrush to the sky, giving it highlights and depth and color:
My cholesterol actually came down this year – it wasn’t high, but it was rising. Eating the dreaded oatmeal and more vegetables, less meat seemed to help. When I just can’t stand the thought of another bowl of oatmeal, I fix myself a bowl of Kashi with blueberries, which, for my US viewers, costs around $11 – $12 a box – not a large box – here in Kuwait. I save it for special occasions. 😉
Rose-Colored Sunrise 31 Dec 2008
When we got up this morning, it was DARK, at a time when it is normally lighter. When I looked out my window, there were heavy clouds, everything looked dark and sombre:
Minutes later, the sun begins to break through and the clouds look less substantial:
And then – the light! The sun breaks through!
And, a short time later, the day shimmers in silver and gold:
All that drama, and the morning is yet young! Wooo HOOOO, what a day this might be!
These are funny days, December 29th – 31st, days in which those who follow the Islamic calendar are already in the new year, and days in which we are still waiting. Tomorrow we will all be back on track, starting off a new year. In Kuwait, schools this week reported 85% absenteeism. Schools were open – but the students didn’t come!
AdventureMan and I briefly reviewed our year 2008 before praying this morning. For us – even though our financial investments are (on paper) in the depths – this has been a very good year. We have each other, and we have our sweet Qatteri Cat.
We have been greatly blessed to have had more time with our son this year than any year we can remember in the last ten years. We love our time with him, and with his wife. We have had weddings, and lots of family times with my family. We have had wonderful times with our friends, old and new. God has blessed us abundantly.
In every way that really matters, life is sweet. We thank God for 2008. We thank God, even for the challenges that 2009 will bring.
Brothers and sisters, we wish you peace, peace in your spirits, peace in your families, peace in your nations, and a desire to meet all obstacles with peaceful intentions. We wish you peaceful times with family, and peaceful resolutions of any conflicts. May your New Year be filled with unexpected blessings!
“I’ll be home for Christmas – if only in my dreams”
This is a nightmare year for people trying to get home for Christmas in the United States – weeks of storms have caused snarled schedules and cancelled trains and planes, stranding passengers eager to be home with family for Christmas.
Worse – my friends tell me – many groceries have not been resupplied, but that’s OK because many of their customers can’t get to the stores anyway. It’s hit merchants hard in what is already thought to be one of the most dismal selling seasons in a long, long time.
Here’s a write up from National Public Radio:
Winter Storms Frustrate Holiday Travel Nationwide
by Scott Neuman
NPR.org, December 23, 2008 · Bitter cold temperatures and snow have placed the northern half of the nation in a deep freeze, affecting travel in planes, trains and automobiles just as the holiday season gets under way.
Some of the worst winter storms on record have cut a swath from the Pacific Northwest to New England. Across the country, tens of thousands of people are without power after freezing rain and strong winds caused transmission lines to come down.
Heavy snowfall in western Oregon has caused traffic to come to a near standstill along Interstate 5, and state highways through the northern edge of the Coast Range are closed.
Amtrak’s Cascades passenger train service between Eugene, Ore., and Vancouver, British Columbia, was halted, but officials said they expected it to resume on Tuesday. Greyhound bus service in Portland and Seattle was also shut down.
At the Seattle-Tacoma airport, thousands of people have been waiting in hours-long lines to re-book canceled flights.
“There’s no flights going into [Las] Vegas that has any available seating,” Air Force Airman Alex James told NPR’s Morning Edition.
James said he and three other Air Force buddies hope to avoid driving from Seattle to Las Vegas, where their families are preparing for the holidays.
“We leave on our deployment on the first of January,” James said. “So, however long it takes us to get back from here is how much reduced our time at home is.”
Alaska and Horizon airlines, the West Coast’s principal carriers, resumed limited service Monday and the carriers said they hoped to resume near-normal schedules Tuesday at Seattle-Tacoma and have things normal flights by Wednesday.
In the East, the town of Eustis, Maine, got nearly 3 1/2 feet of snow. Snow and sleet — but no additional accumulation — are expected Tuesday in the Northeast.
In the nation’s midsection, the situation is just as bad.
In Illinois, which has experienced subzero conditions and wind chills as low as minus 35 degrees in recent days, temperatures are expected to rise into the 20s Tuesday. But with the reprieve will come several inches of snow, according to the forecast.
More snow is expected across the upper Midwest. Michigan could get as much as a foot of snow, while ice, snow and sleet are in the forecast for Indiana, where many people have been without electricity.
Travelers have been stranded in airports as they wait for flights to resume so they can make their way to friends and families for the holidays. Routes to much of the Pacific Northwest have been canceled, and flights to the East Coast, including New York and New Jersey, have been delayed by hours.
You can read the entire article by clicking HERE.
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