Many accusations have been callously thrown at me the last couple of days for causing the uptick in our winter weather, these are preposterous. First of all giving out recipe’s for tasty ground hog delights did not bring down the “Puxatawney Curse” on me. I’ve been sent many e-mails of thanks for them and told they are tastiest when accompanied by any alcoholic drink that has to be strained through a t-shirt. Secondly, me saying “I’ve been through a lot worse!” was not a gauntlet cast toward Mother Nature and she has taken up the challenge. It’s just good old IOWA, we will complain to each other and feel sorry for those outside the state that aren’t rugged enough to enjoy it’s beauty. At this time of year this offers us the opportunity to prepare our other seasonal complaints and develop new ones. On Saturday, February 10th I will again step outside to establish if I’ve seen my shadow, if not I predict it’s cloudy and cold. If I’m not in by 10 minutes come get me, it’s probably extremely cold and I have hypothermia or my tongue is stuck to something metal.