Good Evening, Everyone!! It was 15 degrees on this unknown-numbered day of the apocalypse. I salted, chipped ice, shoveled while I shivered, my shoulders ached, my lips chapped… I’m so looking forward to the greens of spring!
In all honesty, though, I’m a Michigan kid. I had some of my favorite days on winter sleds, building show forts in plowed snow piles, snowball fights (and yes, I did save one in the freezer just to throw it at my sister in June :D) and snowmobiles. I can ice-fish without a shanty, cross-country ski and drink peppermint schnapps with the best of them. So, this year’s winter has been a measure of beautiful nights of softly falling snow while I sat by the window with a hot cup of coffee – you know, in the midst of the shoveling and salting and freezing and stuff. I remember it more fondly as a kid?
May you find your moments of zen in the harshness that life brings. Stay Warm!
randy
Scottie's Playtime 
love the last picture, with the candles and the fireplace…Iknow this won’t help, but we experienced a warming trend today in NH, it got all the way up to 15 degrees and the sun came out. all at the same time.
It will be warmer soon. and the days are getting longer, every day.
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lol. Scary when 15 and sunny is a warming trend! Well, if nothing else, maybe it will do a job on these darn ticks that have gotten so bad over the last couple of years.
Stay Warm 🙂
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This is New England. 15 degrees in January or February is a sign of spring coming in a month. or two. or pretty soon…let’s just say we don’t wander around in the snow in jammies and slippers.
The past decade or so we have had ticks here, in abundance. When I first met them I tended to freak out totally. Now, after a decade or so, we’ve learned to scrape and flush. No biggie. we even keep track of how many. =)
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Hi Judy. I hate ticks. Not so much for me, but they used to get my poor Grace and she did not enjoy my attempts at removal. You know, fundamentally, I’m a live and let live kind of person … and that gets completely thrown out when my kindness is taken for lunch!!
lol Stay warm!
Randy
oh, it got up to 32 today!! I was, literally, working outside in shirt sleeves. It was great!
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It doesn’t drop below 0°C (32°F) here except during the night just a few times per year. Personally I prefer the cold over hot, but I’m not too sure how I’d manage with -9°C (15°F) temperatures. Today I’ve been coping with a 25°C (77°F) afternoon temperature. That’s about the very top of my comfort zone During February, we usually exceed that on 5 – 10 days, although over recent years, the number of days that exceed that has been increasing.
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Hi Barry. When I visited my parents and Scottie and Ron in Florida, it was beautiful – but it was their “cold” time. I don’t know how I would do in the very warm climate. I can always throw a sweater on, but there is only so much I can take off before the neighbors complain!
Randy
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I guess you get acclimatised to the weather pattern you grew up with. My wife grew up in Japan, and where she lived, the January average is -5°C (23°F) and the August Average is 27°C (81°F), with highs up to 35°C (95°F), but day-to-day variations are minimal. So she experienced four distinct seasons over the course of a year. But when she arrived in New Zealand she was totally confused because our weather is so variable. We can literally have four seasons in one day – often. Temperatures can fluctuate by as much as 10°C (18°F) over a few hours. She’s been living here for 54 years, and she still struggles with the changeable weather.
And I agree: you can always add another layer of clothing if it gets cold, but once you’re down to a birthday suit, there’s nothing left to take off.
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Coldest winter I can recall in years.
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I remember one of the first years I got my Grace and she an the neighbor dog played in the snow. We got a lot of snow that year, and it stayed cold a long time…. and that was around 2014??? But, yeah, wow! is it cold this year!!
Stay Warm!
Randy
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I think it has gotten colder here than usual, though beginning today, our daytime temps are rising into the 60s F. We’ve usually gotten at least some cold weather (temps below 35 F) during our winters, it simply hasn’t lasted long in the past 7-8 years. Maybe a few days in January and February. But we had cold at the end of November, through December, January, and up till this week, so I feel fortunate as I’m a Winter-lover! I have always managed to get warm, but it’s more difficult to cool off, and we get danged hot here by August and September, and it doesn’t let up until late October or early November.
But, this Winter has outdone itself this year. I wish the rest of the world would be as peaceful as the season!🕊
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Hi Ali. I really loved the snow when I was younger and more able to enjoy it. There comes a sad point in one’s life where the snow goes from a playground of skiing and sledding and snowmobiling to “Good Lord, don’t let me fall” and “dang my shoulders hurt”. How sad is that.
Randy
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Yep, that is true! I tried to have a lot of fun in the snow with Ollie this year; I could sort of do what I generally do but in a half foot of snow, and yes, hyper-conscious of how fast I went in case of ice, and I don’t want to fall and get an injury. Just like all the old women I’ve ever known! 🤭
I like Bio Freeze in the warm months for soreness and joint pain, but I have to use Ben Gay in the winter; pain is worse and more stubborn this year than it used to be, and it’s warming!🌞
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Hi. Wow this year has been worse than any year it seems since we came to Florida in 1994. Back then it would dip during the night into freezing but by midday it would be back to short-sleeve weather for a few days. Then for decades we got to the point where it rarely even got down to 50s / 40s before bouncing right back up into the high 70s. The last few winters it never dropped low enough that I needed more than a heavy overshirt to go out during winter. Those really cold nights were only a few days in a row and spaced apart. This year is very different. I have run heaters in each room for five days in a row with temps falling into the 20s and barely getting into the 50s. Today is grand though with a feels like temp of 78. Hate to see the electric bill. Plus this is the third time this winter stretches like this have happened. Weird, but the climate is not changing at all is it? Hugs
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Hi Scottie. I just got my heating bill. Not so good! I keep my house cool because the shop is cool and I don’t want to freeze there because I’m not used to the cold. But, this heating bill makes me wonder what would have been the cost if I liked it warm. But, there is nothing like the look of snow in the trees and on the evergreens. There is always beauty in nature… just ahve to get your teeth from rattling long enough, I guess.
hugs
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