Saturday, January 23, 2016

Betty MacDonald and a very dangerous situation

Betty MacDonald in the living room at Vashon on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.
Betty MacDonald fan club fans,
we mentioned the new Betty MacDonald fan club item ' Betty MacDonald in Winter '.
It seems that Winter is starting right now with lots of snow and storms.  
Be careful please. It's very dangerous right now.
( see reports below ) 

A Betty MacDonald fan club member recently shared some very interesting Betty MacDonald photos including pictures of Betty as a child in a real Winter season with lots of snow.

We have a great Betty MacDonald fan club Winter surprise for you.

We are working on a new Betty MacDonald fan club essay entitled ' Betty MacDonald and snow '.

We've already built several snowmen during this Winter season but the Wisconsin dad was the best.

Imagine - a 22 foot high snowman!

I'm really very impressed. 

Thanks a million for your outstanding support.

As already mentioned we celebrated World Day of the Snowman. 

There will be a new DVD entitled ' Betty MacDonald and the World Day of the Snowman ' presenting several International Betty MacDonald fan club activities. 

Fred got the excellent idea to organize a Betty MacDonald fan club Snowman contest.

Send us a photo of your favourite snowman and you can some very new interesting Betty MacDonald fan club items.

Deadline: January 31, 2016 


Betty MacDonald described Winter season in one of her unique books.

Betty MacDonald: 

“ Big snowflakes fluttered slowly through the air like white feathers and made all of the Heavenly Valley smooth and white and quiet and beautiful.

Tall fir trees stood up to their knees in snow and their outstretched hands were heaped with it. Those that were bare of leaves wore soft white fur on their scrawny, reaching arms and all the stumps and low bushes had been turned into fat white cupcakes.”  





Betty MacDonald described Winter season in a magical way but as we know Life can be rather hard on Vashon Island during Winter.


We got these messages from Betty MacDonald fans some years ago.


Guys it's much too cold for me! 


I'm afraid I'm the Southern type although I know how much children and especially our children adore snow and really enjoy all these beloved Winter activities. 


Very cold days in the State of Washington! Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!

We recently had a wind storm followed by some very low temperatures and a lot of snow.
Vashon Island had a power outage for a few days. My sister was without power from Monday evening to Thursday before noon.
The next week is supposed to be above freezing, rain and occasional sun-breaks.
Old timers on the Island had kerosene lamps and wood stoves and plenty of wood just for this type of situation.

We had a bit of snow and cold around here and mother had to put up with no electric power or heat for two days but seems cheerful about it all.

We have just gone through an Arctic Express. Extremely cold and snowy on Vashon Island. Broke records for low temps. I was without power for 24 hours, many much longer. Today is much warmer and the snow is almost gone.

We have had bad storms that brought down some of the big trees on houses and power lines. We have had long hours and days without power, and the temperature got down to 15 degrees F. No sun, but today it is raining and the snow and ice are melting.

For one week here it's been verrrrry cold from zero with wind chil to now finally 40 degrees. Seattle was almost shut down due to bad ice. We cancelled plans to go to Sequim, which is not far from where Betty lived the story of the EGG AND I. Too cold, too much snow, windy, and icy. So we stayed home and roasted a duck!! 


We're not seeing the sun yet! At least it isn't raining. It's impossible to walk every day in this weather. I usually go out for 45 minutes a day.  



Our new Betty MacDonald and Alison Bard Burnett CD and DVD are perfect gifts. 



Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli is our hero and a very much  beloved guy. 

Don't miss Brad Craft's very interesting thoughts, please.

Something very special!

This is an interview with Elizabeth an owner of a traditional Mongolian Ger (yurt). 

Elizabeth has been living in her yurt since early last fall through the rainy NW winter on Vashon Island.


Take care,

Nina 


Don't miss this very special book, please.


 


Vita Magica
Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum  

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )

Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University 

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel 

Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD

Betty MacDonald fan club items 

Betty MacDonald fan club items  - comments

Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I  

Betty MacDonald fan club groups 

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund 


Winter storm brings near-record snow to eastern US as 17 deaths reported

A powerful, sprawling winter storm buried the eastern US in near-record snow on Saturday, leaving in its wake accidents, injuries and deaths from the deep south to New York City.
Early Saturday morning, the blizzard moved into some of the nation’s largest cities and an estimated 80 million people in 20 states heard winter weather warnings, watches or advisories. Gale-force winds of up to 60mph spewed snow into Washington DC, Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York City, and authorities in seven states attributed 17 deaths to the storm, mostly in car accidents.
“It seems the weather forecasters got it right this time,” New York governor Andrew Cuomo said at a morning press conference. “There is a blizzard.”



Like officials all around the east coast, he warned people to stay off the roads: “I don’t care how superb a driver, how big a four-wheel drive vehicle you have, the roads are barely passable.”Cuomo and governors in 10 other states declared emergency conditions, and New York City slid to an almost total standstill when the governor and mayor Bill de Blasio banned road travel and shut down most public transit. The city closed bridges, tunnels and outdoor subway service, and most Broadway shows canceled performances.“The roads are technically open,” Cuomo said. “But if you really do not need to leave your house, I can’t stress enough you should not leave your house.”
By 4pm local time, nearly 20in of snow had fallen in Central Park, with as much as 30in expected before the storm’s end Sunday. New Yorkers skied down 5th avenue and could hardly see the tops of skyscrapers past a few or past a few blocks.De Blasio predicted the storm would rank among the five worst snowstorms in the city’s history.
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Cuomo said he was particularly concerned about flooding conditions – “what I consider the worst of Mother Nature’s wrath” – in New York City and along Long Island. Swells rivaled those of hurricane Sandy in some areas, though officials insisted the storm did not rival the 2012 disaster.
His fears were well founded, though not necessarily for New York. Icy, coastal flooding pushed into Jersey shore, Delaware and Maryland towns after the morning high tide, and officials anxiously awaited the evening tide. Hurricane-force winds swept in from the ocean, and 21-foot waves broke sea barriers in some areas.
Hundreds of people were stranded for hours, some for half-a-day or more, along highways where traffic halted amid snowdrifts and ice. Emergency crews handed out snacks, fuel and water, and trapped drivers and passengers tried to make the most of the situation by commiserating on buses.



Tennessee and North Carolina police said they had responded to hundreds of accidents, and Virginia state police reported nearly 1,000 storm-related accidents.Halfway through the storm, meteorologists could not say whether the snowfall would break records. “Either way, we’re looking at a significant event,” NWS meteorologist Frank Pereira said.The full force of the storm could dump enough snow on Washington to eclipse the 17.8in of a massive storm that struck in 2010, and could rival the “Knickerbocker” storm of 1922, when a record 28in fell.
“It does have the potential to be an extremely dangerous storm that can affect more than 50 million people,” said Louis Uccellini, director of the weather service.
A storm also brought power outages in the region. About 40,000 customers in New Jersey had no power by Saturday morning, and another 8,000 in Virginia were without power.



New Jersey governor Chris Christie also told residents to stay indoors. “The most urgent need for our residents is to stay inside … We’re getting two to three inches of snow an hour at this point.”Near Washington DC, snowfall totals neared 20in, and the national airport in Washington DC recorded 14in of snowfall by early Saturday morningand mayor Muriel Bowser declared a state of emergency there. She made the rare decision to shut down all public transport.In Baltimore, Maryland, the national guard was called on to city streets, where officers waited out the storm parked in the middle of intersections in armored vehicles.



     — Jayne Miller (@jemillerwbal) January 23, 2016
Natl Guard out in BMore...this is on President St downtown pic.twitter.com/j9CZrVT1E8
Airlines canceled more than 7,600 flights, and 90% of flights into and out of New York’s busy LaGuardia airport alone were canceled. Every flight into or out of of Atlantic City, New Jersey was canceled. Almost 90% of flights from Baltimore were canceled.The blizzard caused travel chaos as far away as the UK, where more than 45 flights to and from the US were cancelled.


   — Caitlin Knute-ABC11 (@CKnuteABC11) January 23, 2016
Tree limbs so low they scratched our car! pic.twitter.com/KhSu1p1Mlu
Alexandria, Virginia had a foot of snow by midnight. As far south as Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, local media outlets have reported icy conditions weighing down trees and making roads slick. States in the south-east saw the bulk of airline cancellations on Friday. Parts of Nashville, Tennessee saw 9in of snow and heard thunder overnight. That was almost triple what was predicted, and made the storm the 13th largest in Nashville’s history.


 
         The Tennessean (@Tennessean) January 23, 2016
Nashville snowstorm hit earlier and harder than expected: https://t.co/Zxxo5CF9Jt pic.twitter.com/Rw6IozcJyQ
By Sunday afternoon, however, airliners hope to be back to a full schedule to handle the typical influx of business travelers heading out to start a week on the road. Overall, the airlines have canceled about 15% of their scheduled flights in the US for Friday and Saturday. Officials in search of a silver lining reminded residents that Saturday is the slowest travel day of the week, and expressed gratitude to people who stayed indoors. There are a little more than 22,000 flights scheduled to, from or within the US, according to FlightAware. That’s about 5,000 fewer flights and 400,000 fewer passengers than on Thursday or Friday.

A storm also brought power outages in the region. About 40,000 customers in New Jersey had no power by Saturday morning, and another 8,000 in Virginia were without power.