April Snow

Snow on the fence
Originally uploaded by Pockafwye

It's snowed all morning today. A light snow. Not enough to snarl up traffic or completely cover the new growth of grasses and shoots on the ground. It's windy enough that the snow is sticking to the side of our fence. I think the snow has finally stopped falling for the time being (it's mid-afternoon), and it's warmed up to 37°F (3°C), but the wind still has an un-springlike bite to it, with a windchill in the high 20°s F.

I put some food out for the squirrels again today. The buds on the trees are being really slow to pop because of the weather, and the squirrels count on those buds for their spring salad bar. They were wandering around the empty food dish, looking annoyed by its emptiness.

I've been out running around today, doing errands and going to the Craftstravaganza at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds. I've been warm enough all day, despite the wind and snow. Now I'm inside on the couch, typing, and I'm freeeeezing. Go figure.

I took a couple of photos of the crafts I saw today. You can see them on my flickr page here.

Only in Minnesota do you get 76 degrees, an inch of rain, severe thunderstorm warnings, and a possible foot of snow in 24 hours. ~ Paul Huttner, April 25, 2008, Updraft

It's a beautiful day

Waiting
Originally uploaded by Pockafwye

It's a beautiful, bright, sunny day. To look out the window it looks like it would be a perfect day to go out and practice my archery. But it's -7°F (-22°C) out there, with a wind chill of -28°F (-33°C).

There were a couple of squirrels sitting on our front deck, checking out the feeding dish and looking hopeful. The deck is a dark gray, and the direct sunlight on the boards makes them wonderfully warm even in this kind of cold. So I suspect it was warming their fuzzy little coats, too.

In fact, the surface of the deck is warm enough that when I went out to fill the feeder for the squirrels I was able to do so barefoot. The air was cold enough to freeze the inside of my nose almost instantly. But my toesies were plenty warm.

So, no archery today, and probably not for some time yet.

But my Honey is home from his trip. The squirrel bowl is full and the squirrels are going to town on the goodies in it. The cats enjoyed today's episode of rodent action on the cat-tv (window) before finding comfy spots for their afternoon naps. My Mister is baking bread and filling the house with baking smells. We'll spend some time playing WoW together, and then I'll probably knit and catch up on some of the documentaries I've saved on our DVR.

Yup. It's a beautiful day.

Home again

My Mister has been off carousing and visiting family in Las Vegas for several days, and he's coming home tonight.

The cats, the rats and I have all missed him, so we'll all be very glad to have him home again. Not sure he's going to be thrilled with coming home to wind chill values between -13 and -23°F after the mild weather in Vegas. It was relatively warm here (in the high 20's F) when he left. But that's what you get when you live in Minnesota.

I understand he got to meet some poker pros, like "The Professor" Howard Lederer, and has become good buddies with the family dog at my sister-in-law's house. Good thing he didn't drive there or he'd likely come home with the pupper. He sent this photo of her, taken with his cameraphone.

Cold, with a side of cold

-41° F wind chill. The Southern Californian in me shivers just thinking about it. But I don't need to imagine it any more. Yes. I'm a believer. Wind chill is a factor to be taken very seriously.

We went out to dinner this evening, and it was decidedly chilly. Coming home was another matter. Even my Mister, who has a high threshold for cold, was cold. Cold enough to volunteer that he might have made a slight miscalculation in his choice of jackets for the evening (a hooded sweatshirt). I didn't say, "I told you so."

For the most part, I was fine. I had on my down parka, mittens and a fleece hat. But I still didn't have my scarf, and the wind was blowing all the flags in the area straight out as if they'd been starched in place. The cold on the bridge of my nose gave me an instant headache. Watching the gentleman who walked past us in the parking lot wearing a dress shirt, a light sweater and no hat or gloves made me boggle. He didn't look even vaguely uncomfortable, and he was whistling a happy tune.

I'd make a lousy arctic explorer.

The drive home from work was kind of wacky. I ended up behind a fellow in a red car who seemed to be looking everywhere except at the road. He had on a baseball cap, and I could see the brim of the hat swinging back and forth, back and forth, back and forth as he peered out the side windows, out behind him, back out the side windows, giving only short glances to the highway in front of him. He was going just fast enough that I wasn't comfortable speeding up enough to pass him, given the way the gusty wind was trying to knock my car around. So I slowed down to give him lots of room. He'd slow down for a minute, then speed back up. Always looking back and forth out the side windows. Occasionally he'd change lanes, or drift enough I was afraid he'd go into the ditch.

This went on for several miles. I breathed a sigh of relief when he took an exit off the highway, but he drove straight through the exit to where it re-entered the highway, and got right back on, still several vehicles in front of mine. I paced myself to continue keeping a decent buffer between us.

An ambulance sped up behind us with it's sirens and flashing lights on. Everyone slowed and shifted to the right lane to let it pass. But rather than slowing down, or pulling off the side of the road, Swivelly Head Man decided to stop short, right in the middle of the lane. Everyone managed to avoid hitting him, but it was a bit too close for comfort. Even stopped, I could see the brim of his hat swinging from side to side in a 180° arc.

I took the opportunity, after the ambulance passed and while Swivelly Head Man was still stopped, to pass him, but once he got going he sped way up, as if to make up for lost time. He zipped past me, and off another highway exit, then right back onto the highway again.

A few miles later he finally took an exit that didn't have a return point on it, and continued on his swivelly way to where ever he was going. Maybe he just didn't want to end up behind Minivan Woman, who was poking along at 15 mph below the speed limit just up ahead?

Fresh because it's frozen fresh

It is -2°F (-19°C) outside now with a wind chill of -23°F (-31°C) and the temperature is still dropping. NOAA is predicting a low of -16°F tonight with a wind chill of -26°F to -31°F. What happened to 42°F from 2 PM yesterday? I was outside with only a sweater for extra warmth, and quite happy. The locals all seem quite proud of this sudden thermometer crash. Welcome to Minnesota. And I don't even live in one of the cold parts of the state.

The wind is strong and steady, and cuts right through the fabric of my pants and sneaks up under my hat. It makes my eyes water, and the hairs inside your nose freeze in this weather if your nose is uncovered. I wonder what a knitter like me is doing with only one warm scarf to my name, and that one forgotten at home?

Thank goodness I got into work early enough to get a good parking place, so I'm only a hundred yards or so from the office door. I left my lunch in the car today (in an insulated bag so it wouldn't freeze solid) to give me an excuse for an extra bit of walking around and fresh air. I think tomorrow I'm bringing it inside, and I'll add an extra spin around the quad, with it's indoor walkways between buildings, instead. No fresh air, of course. But walking around outside right now reminds me of that old frozen food commercial singing the praises of their product by declaring, "It's fresh because it's frozen fresh." I'd rather have my air thawed out a bit before sucking it into my lungs right now.

No sign of the snow they predicted for this morning. I'll be happy if it holds off until after the evening rush hour. If local weather had a democratic component, I suspect there would be an overwhelming vote for that.

Good news for today is that I'm finally sleeping better. Another week of decent sleep, and maybe I'll start to feel like myself again. As a sign of improvement, instead of the usual nightmares, I had a dream about H.H. the Dalai Lama. About a modern cathedral-type structure with pews and a lectern at the front, but instead of hymnals and Bibles there were books with prayers and teachings from many religions and philosophies. The people there were waiting to hear not a sermon, but a philosophical dialog in which His Holiness one participant. The people gathered there to listen were from countries all around the world.

Alrighty. Lunch break is over. Back to work.