Weekend report

Wow, long weekend. Still haven't done any birding at all though.  It's been nearly a week (longer I think) since I've officially gone out birding.  Most of my birding has been from the car.  lol I should really tally my SFC (Seen from Car) list. I'll bet it's pretty long. Maybe I should tally my LSFC (Lifers seen from car) list too. That one has a few birds on it. 

Anyway, this past weekend, I went to the family Christmas party at Grandma's house in Northwest Indiana.  I have four Aunts and Uncles so consequently, a lot of 1st cousins. I really don't know how Grandma can keep track of all 10 of us. lol  Interestingly enough, except for a few gaps, we were all born within a year of one another. I'm the oldest. Also interestingly enough, the first four were boys, the next four were girls and then one boy and the another girl. weird. :D 

Since I'm the only one who lives in WI, I don't get to see the rest of my family very often.  It's actually been a couple years since I've seen some of my mom's cousins. 

So after spending altogether too short a period of time with them on Sat, on Sun we drove over to my brother's house to visit him, my sister-in-law and my niece and nephew. 

lol, don't ask me who's who any farther than that. I hate trying to figure out how people are related. I have some cousins on my dad's side who live out in Idaho (and who I barely know) and all I know is that they're my cousins. They're not 1st cousins but that's all the more I know.... or can figure out! lol  

Ok, back to the main subject.......

On Sun, the mercury hovered around zero and the wind howled up around 25-35 Mph with gusts up to 45 mph.  Needless to say, the windchill was down around 30 below zero during the day and down to nearly 45 below zero on Sun night. 

So here's how the mistake of the week took place: 

We had parked in the garage to unload our gear and presents

I had thought that the car was going to remain in the garage so I left my camera (yes, my very expensive DSLR and both lenses) in the car. 

The car, was later moved outside and left there all night 

Nobody told me........ 

(remember that -45 windchill)

This morning, I found my camera (along with everything else in the car) lavishly lacquered with a thin coating of ice. 

Needless to say, I was not happy.  

Even the inner prisms of my short lens were frosted over. 

Even my box of pencils was frosted over.

Every bottle or container the had any water in it, was frozen solid.

I think that even the bottle of hand sanitizer (which btw contains alcohol) was frozen.  

My binocs were also coated with ice

So was just about everything else in the car. 

Even after we had the car heated back up, the ice still formed..... on the INSIDE of the windows......

Whatever. The good news though, is that my camera still works..... I think........