OK, so in December it was -4° F. and I thought it was cold. It turns out that that was just a prelude. In January we went two weeks where the typical high was +5° and the typical low was -15°, and sometimes it got colder than -20°. That'll freeze your popsicles! We went with friends on a snowshoe hike under the full moon one night in January. It was beautiful. The weather was clear and we could see three prominent mountains miles away, their snow cover gleaming in the moonlight. On the way home we found that it was already -11°.
We went to California over the holidays to visit friends and family. While we were gone we missed two major snowstorms, each dropping about two feet. So on our return we found our car buried in the parking lot in town, a five foot wall of snow that the plow had put up across our driveway, deep snow all the way from the street to our house, and the woodstove's chimney plugged with snow and ice. The snowblower chose this moment to decide not to work. So the we spent month of January digging out. Fortunately it was so cold that it didn't snow much more. We're never going away on a winter vacation again!
It was nice seeing people in California, and it was nice seeing all the birds (not many remain here in winter). But it is getting more crowded all the time. Many of the places we used to bird are now cookie-cutter subdivisions. Traffic is horrendous, and we felt culturally alienated. It seems unlikely that we could move back and still be happy.
I'm continuing to take my weekly French class. It's a lot of fun to learn a new language. I wasn't sure I could do so at my age. Of course, with one class per week I might be 90 before I can actually hold a conversation...
Speaking of age, I passed a milestone last month. Without giving it away totally, its factors are 2 and 5 and 5.
So, stay warm and keep the snow shovel handy!
Peace,
Terry
2/10/03