Baby, It's Cold Outside (-4º)

7:06

7:50

8:03

Up at 7:00, a stretch of cream color just above the horizon as the dawn begins.  I went outside and picked up the paper and it seemed unusually cold, so I checked my indoor/outdoor thermometer and it was, a -4º. Whoa.  Do I want to jump in a cold car and drive to yoga?  Perhaps.  And, by the way, when I first looked out side, there were three tents on the ice already, as the 'early bird gets the worm.'

Fishing In Four Below Temperatures

Yesterday was snowy much of the morning, slush on the roads, a wet snow but I drove to yoga for the first time this year.  I was the first one there, talked with Danielle, settled in on the opposite side from where I usually sit.  There were about ten of us, the usual group for a Monday and it was great to get back in action.  My cough was a bit annoying, but I don't think it bothered the others, at least I hope not.  It was Yin Yoga, so it was easier and more restorative then more active classes, just what I needed to start the year.  Afterwards, I stopped in to say Happy New Year to Joyce, the owner of Ryder's Cup, bought some coffee, then stopped at the bank, then Hollyloft, where I left both pairs of cross country skis, to get them 'hot waxed' and ready for the winter.  I also bought gas at Sam's, $2.61 a gallon, cheap compared to a few months ago, but expensive compared to most other states.

I was home by 11:30 and had a couple of hours before I had to go to Jamestown, to the dentist to get a filling.  For lunch, we had lentil soup and a chicken sandwich, and I read some before heading off to Jamestown.  I sat waiting for the dentist for about a half hour, but the procedure took about fifteen minutes, just replace a filling that had fallen out.  I then drove through Jamestown, stopped again at Hollyloft and picked up our skis, then drove home on busy, slushy roads, as the temperature was still hovering around 39º, unable to make up its mind whether to snow or rain.

When I returned, it was too wet to try my skis so both of us relaxed, reading and listening to NPR with a glass of wine, wondering when the temperature was beginning to drop as predicted. It even started to snow a bit around 6:00.  Dinner was easy, hot dogs and beans, with cole slaw, broccoli and chips, no fuss, no muss.  We watched a couple of episodes of The Americans, a series we are really enjoying before turning to 'the game' for most of the flatlanders from Ohio.  I could only stand sitting through the first half of a commercial ridden football game before DVR-ing it, and going up to bed with Ohio State ahead at half time.  I really did not care much if they won (bad buckeye), in fact, I kind of liked Oregon because it had never won a title before, but it was not to be.

At the moment, the sun has just risen above the treeline in its full glory, filling the living room with sunlight, forcing me to move to another chair.  Clear, blue skies often accompany near zero or below temperatures. It's 8:40 as I finish this and all of the fishermen are dragging their sleds into shore, either they have had enough of the cold weather or caught their limit of fish, more likely the former.