Saturday, January 4, 2014

A mild winter - turns bitter

Well. For the most part - it has been a mild winter. As you may have noticed, a couple of weeks back it started to get real about being winter. So we had a couple of cold days - real cold. Then it got milder for a spell. Some weather in the teens, but mostly above 20 F (~ -7C). Some days above freezing - most of the snow went away. Still had some crusty stuff left. Then it decided to get back to real cold.

Once you hit 10 F (-12 C), imo, it is in the top of the real cold range. So now, for a few days, we are below 10. A couple of mornings past we hit a low of 1 F. Last night the low was -7 F (-22). Now we are REALLY getting into the cold.

So it snowed, maybe 10 or 12 inches. Easy to clear, it is so cold it was dry dry dry. I haven't worked outside clearing snow and stuff in temps like these in several decades. It was much colder in Russia, while I was working there - but the risk taking walks was fairly low. I wasn't working, building a sweat, or getting gloves or mittens wet from getting blasted with snow.

Now, for a fact, I don't work up much of a sweat pushing a snowblower. Hehehe, not at all. But, the winds blows a little bit, and I have a snow crust all over whatever I am wearing. I slip and fall - or drop a broom or a shovel or whatever, and have to pick it out of a drift - and I've got snow up my sleeves - instant chill to the hands.

So I'm out clearing snow from the driveway at -5 F. Cold, baby. The tem actually goes DOWN after daybreak - a couple more degrees - to -7. Auh-huh. Chilly. Later in the day it finally goes back up a few degrees, but we have a couple of cold days.

The good side? I get to wear winter clothes I haven't worn in a long time - like my Russian fur hat. Anytime the temp is 10 F or higher, it is too warm for this hat - I sweat.

It sure is pretty. Picture perfect white snow drifts, makes the roads look real country. But the dogs don't even like it - Klinger's paws are so cold he is acting like the snow is a bed of nails. We go out the next day - at about 15 F, and he is happy as a clam running around in the snow. But -5 is a bit too much!