For the last two days, it’s been 60 degrees and sunny in the afternoon. Just wonderful. But here we go again, maybe:

A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect from 11 am Sunday to 5 am MST Monday.

Expect heavy snow developing late Sunday morning… with snow continuing through late Sunday night. Above 7500 feet… expect 4 to 8 inches of new snow… with locally heavier snowfall up to a foot on north and east facing slopes.

In addition to heavy snowfall… northwest to north winds to 35 mph with gusts to 45 mph will reduce visibilities to near zero at times in blowing and drifting snow. Cold temperatures and brisk winds will drop wind chill into the teens below zero.

We are at about 7,200 feet, for what it’s worth, but those numbers are just a rough guess. If it does snow tomorrow, I’ll probably go into shock. The road, not the driveway, is almost completely dry now.

[sob]

Do NOT, under any circumstances, use the cheap Wal-Mart kitty litter on an icy path. It isn’t like the more expensive kind (duh) and forms a hideous adhesive clay when it gets wet. It’s WORSE than local mud. A true horror, no exaggeration.

Maybe I can scrape it off with a hoe or something. It sticks to your boots in great honking clumps  like industrial goo. If a cat peed on it, it would form STINKING industrial goo that the animal would get stuck in. It’s a travesty and a sham. For all I know, it comes from China and IS industrial goo! It probably causes cancer in weasels. If you see this in the store, run like hell.

Man, I should have gone to bed a long time ago.

It isn’t really that late, but it feels like it’s almost dawn. This is a man who’s gone to bed between 3:00 - 3:45 a.m. every night for a spell. I can’t remember how many days it’s been, which means I ought to stop. It seems okay to be exhausted, though.

This morning, for the second day in a row, I sat out back for at least 90 minutes, soaking up the sun and, well, meditating, I guess. This is something I’ve gotten into quite spontaneously over the last few months, using the most basic technique there is, watching my breath. That’s it, that’s all I do — and let my thoughts float down the stream. Now, anyone who knows me understands I’m no ascetic and take my pleasure seriously when I’m not insane. The point is, I wouldn’t be doing this if it didn’t feel good. This isn’t like flossing my teeth! It’s the Ultimate Freebie.

What happens is I sit there and breathe, focusing on my nose. If I can wrestle my attention down and hold it at that spot, my thoughts drop to a whisper in the background. If I listen to any of them, the volume comes back up, and I’m off and running. A moment, a second later I snap out of it and go back to my breath. This goes back and forth until I get a few seconds of silence here and there. These must add up, because all at once it’s like I’m holding open a door with my attention, and out there is a whole new space. A whole new quality or dimension.

There’s something to this, and it’s BIG, kids.

Birds flew closer to me while I sat there today. Even while focusing on my breath, I noticed how each species had a different-sounding wing beat. In just a few minutes I was identifying incoming birds by the frequency of the sound of the displaced air. That never would have happened while I was following my thoughts. Jesus, what else is falling through the cracks?

Sometimes now I watch my breath when I’m walking or driving, or even when I’m listening to my wife. It just sort of happens, and I do it. A couple of times I’ve even caught myself starting to slip into an evil condition and stopped it by feeling the air in my nose.

Man, this must sound awfully weird.

“NEXT!”

No, that’s not a new band, but what great name! Actually, the real thing is right here. Only the wrapper for a Soviet condom would have a picture of a factory on it (and I’ll bet you thought I made this up).