Cold and burning eyes.

My eyes are burning. I know it's because there is tons of salt all over the ground (as well as Calcium cloride)to reduce ice but really! If I got out by the time the day is ended my eyes are extremely dry and burning. I think this is also what causes my left eye to start twitching. I thought it was stress related (might be a tad of this) but seems more related to the wind/salt mixtures. I wish it would rain a little to wash some of this junk away but not likely...or at least for a little while.

Also, it's a longer freeze/snow we're having. Or a late one, actually. It's unusual and annoying as I remember about this time last year we were getting buds, warm days and I could walk outside with a light coat instead of the winter coat.

I didn't see any Junco's outside today but apparently, when they leave Spring will be on their heels. Very sweet and sad, really. They are such sweet little birds too; dark on the top and light gray/white on the bottom. At least the earth's rotation doesn't seem to be messed up as it's getting lighter in the evenings now. The gals are actually looking forward to Spring as are a lot of us, I'm guessing.

I'm desperate to visit a garden/greenhouse. I may have to take a trip to Lowe's just to see the green plants and blooms. When we lived in California we could just drive over to the Huntington Library or to the Los Angeles Arboretum. I love those places. The nearest (at least the few I found in researching) Arboretum seems to be 3 hours away. Incredible and terrible. I better not think about this too long or I'm going to get depressed.

I'm going to look through my batch of past photos and scan a few of our trips to various gardens in California. It's funny how there is SO much nature in PA but I think of the gardens in California as little oasis's during these below zero times. I guess with nature and hiking one is always vulnerable and the gardens seemed a tad safer. I'll keep researching for gardens closer to Altoona...