It's just got to be the feet

Photo of seagulls courtesy of MSNBC--Allen Fredrickson, Reuters

smaller photo courtesy of msn weather







Yikes! It's a baaaaalmy -7 degrees out although it feels like a scalding -18 right now in our quaint little town. Of course when it's time for all of us to crawl out from underneath the heavenly warmth of our beds when we open the door to go outside it will be -13 degrees but there is an end in site. Well, at least according to the MSN Weather site.

We're looking at a stellar 7 degrees above by 3:00pm tomorrow afternoon. Time to pull out the bikini and the suntan lotion, oh, I mean the sunscreen and go bask in the glory of the warmth. And Pat, well, he has decided he's going to pull out the ole motorcycle and drive it to work.

Ok, I'm really just trying to humor myself through this ungodly cold spell that has engulfed us. We're constantly chilled to the bone even covered with oodles of blankets. My fingers are stiff from the ache of running out to start the vehicles every few hours so they don't freeze up. I pity my poor dogs when they must go expose themselves to the cold just so they can go to the bathroom.

But this is really a normal occurance in the great midwest. Bone chilling temps, cars that won't start, breathing in exhaust, hair freezing if it's the slightest bit damp from the shower and hearing that 'crunch-crunch' as you walk up the sidewalk on the littlest bit of snow and the brittle snap of the lone branch in the woods every once in awhile as a critter scouts around.

Although it is bitter cold out, there is one thing that is really special about this time of year. The stillness, the deadness that encompasses us. It is so peacefully quiet out there late at night, stars shining bright and the moon illuminating and casting more shadows than any street light. The saying that the silence is deafening never makes more sense than in the dead of a cold winter night.

So, as I sit here in my humble abode, wearing fleece pj pants, a thick sweatshirt, a pair of socks, a pair of slipper socks topped with my slippers, struggling to warm myself as much as is possible, it is with much love and adoration that even with all those clothes on I am still not warm that I walk back into the bedroom, grab my robe and my blanket and bury myself in them. But even then, there is no such thing as warmth on days like this because the heat rises and the feet remain low...it's all my feet's fault that I'm cold!!!!