Senior News Line: Gearing up for winter

I think I’m ready for winter. I say that with fingers crossed because, truly, around here you just never know, despite what the annual Almanac says.

How about you? Are you ready to get through the coming winter?

One of the biggest and most important items on my to-do list was to find a new — and reliable — snowplow guy.

It had to be someone with not only a plow on the front of his truck to take care of the heavy stuff in the driveway, but also a crew that would do the shoveling and ice chipping on the sidewalk and steps.

It’s not only for my safety, keeping everything free of ice. The grocery delivery people need a safe walking surface, as well.

Last year, I kept putting notes on the delivery order. Instead of “small bananas, please,” my notes were along the lines of “Beware! Ice on the sidewalk! Beware!”

As far as supplies, I’ve stocked up on canned goods, dry packaged foods, gallons of water, batteries and paper goods. If you do this, keep an eye on the expiration dates of the food. By stocking up, I’ll need to go out to get groceries less often or have fewer deliveries.

And I haven’t forgotten the cat. He’ll be taken care of, as well, with several cases and bags of his favorite food. I will, however, need to drive several towns away to the pet specialty prescription store.

And the car, scheduled for oil change and tire rotation. Check. Clear plastic on windows. Check.

Batteries in the smoke detectors. Check. Mittens, hat, vest to wear under coat. Check. Check. Check.

A winter activity to be considered for cold weather: writing a novel. National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 to challenge people to complete a 50,000-word novel during the month of November.

Interested? Check the website at nanowrimo.org for loads of suggestions, tools and help.