Margaret Flanigan

Four years ago I deliberately chose to move from the Chicago area to this small town in northern Wisconsin.  Chicago winters can be pretty harsh and I had considered moving somewhere south to enjoy a more moderate climate but I went north instead.  I love the seasons and I really do enjoy the cold and the snow…

But enough already!  This is crazy!  We already have more snow (52 inches so far!)  than we usually get all winter long.  I looked it up online and I found this article in a Madison Wisconsin newspaper about the ridiculous amount of snow that has fallen there.  And that is all the way down in Madison!  They are 200 miles south of me and not right on Lake Michigan, so you can imagine how much worse it is here…

Here is a picture of my house taken on Christmas day.  Look at all that snow!  And we have had several more snow storms since then.

It has been one snow day after another up here…  At this rate the kids won’t get out of school until the 4th of July.

Snowmobiling is very big up here so some of my neighbors are actually thrilled with all this snow.

I think each season is appealing in its own way and I try to take time to appreciate all the sights and sounds and smells throughout the year…  But this is just too much snow, too early in the season!

I like a couple of inches of snow on the ground just to make things look pretty.  Chicago winters were becoming so warm that often during the winter you could see the ugly dead lawns and dirty streets.  I love how clean and old-fashioned our little town looks during the snowy winters.

But enough is enough!

People often ask me about my dog Patrick because when we are talking on the phone they can hear him barking in the background.  Actually he is pretty quiet most of the time but he does get excited when the mailman comes or if he sees another dog in the neighborhood.

Patrick joined our family on Saint Patrick’s Day of 2000 and that is how he got his name.  He was originally my daughter’s dog but now she is away at college so Patrick stays with me.

Patrick is a cock-a-poo which means that he is half cocker spaniel and half poodle.  He is a great little dog and I love walking him through the forests and along the beaches.  The only problem is that because of his woolly coat he is a burr-magnet.   I often end up spending more time picking the burrs out of his coat than I spent walking him.

He gets along great with the 3 cats living here:  My cat is Ollie,  my son’s cat is Shadow and I inherited my father’s cat Spicy Sam.  (We also have a box turtle but my daughter took it to college with her.)  Usually Patrick and the 3 cats will spend the day sleeping together on the futon in my office, watching me while I work. They are good company.