"There's only one hard and fast rule in running: sometimes you have to run one hard and fast."








Thursday, January 15, 2009

Old Guy Talkin' Weather

I'm calling it early: it's officially a "real old-fashioned Minnesota winter." Of course, that means it'll get above freezing and stay there, making me look foolish (but then, that's my plan). This January's no 1984 or 1977, but it's equal to 1996; the worst apparently was 1912, with something like 11 straight days below zero. There. That's old guy weather talkin'.

My bedroom was 39 degrees this morning (I'm much better at layering blankets than running clothes, so I didn't notice the cold). Another bedroom had frost on the floor.

At -20, old houses make noise. There's the "pop" that comes from nails dislodging. And there's the "BOOM" that comes from contracting boards sliding past each other. And then there's the sound of running water if a pipe bursts, but that's more of a remodeled house thing.

Today's the birthday of my brothers Bob and Dick - yes, Dick Quick is a real name. He's gone by Richard for decades, but family members still get to call him Dick. Yesterday was my father's birthday. So, will I mention 3 birthdays tomorrow?

It'll be -20 again tomorrow morning, so take advantage of it. Heat a pan of water to boiling and then throw it outdoors; it freezes into a cloud before it hits the ground! You only get a couple of chances to do it, so do it already! It's fun!

I guess that's one of my big things, taking advantage of small situations for small joys. For example, for the swimmers out there: have you ever laid on the bottom of the pool and looked straight up? You won't believe what you see! When couples have a baby, I always tell them to stroke the bottom of the baby's foot (their toes refexively splay); you only have a couple of weeks to try it before the opportunity's gone.

So... three cold days. One was jokes. Two was poetry. Three was science experiments. Now, nothing until the weekly training report (unless, of course, something actually happens).

This week's favorite place to waste time? http://vegancupcakes.wordpress.com/
Greatest food photography ever (found from a link in the above) http://www.flickr.com/photos/bcveen/sets/761173/

6 comments:

Andrew said...

are you actually trying to use reverse psychology on the weather?

think it will work?

Jean said...

Steve, I agree with your assessment that this rivals 1996. I remember that well, and that was the only time where a place that I worked at closed on account of cold weather.

That food photography is outstanding. Was it wrong that I started licking the screen when I got to the pasta with pesto and sun-dried tomatoes? :)

WynnMan said...

nails bursting and wood creaking, sounds like the house is beset in an iceflow and buckling under pressure. Yep, just don't let those pipes freeze like our High School 2 weeks ago.

looking straight up at the bottom of a pool on a sunny day with cumulonimbus cloud cover is indeed one cool experience. So is anticipating when the next bail of hay is going to jump out of the tractor hopper and into the trailor.

Brandon said...

I like the little science experiments! A few of my students did that on their day off of school yesterday, and as a science teacher I loved hearing they thought to do something like that on their day off.

SteveQ said...

Yes, Andrew, I always try to outthink inanimate objects.

Jean, the biggies still are the winters of 1982-3 and 1983-4. One was the snowiest, the other the coldest. They were the first times the University of Minnesota had ever closed.

Wynn, I discovered the remains of the Amundson expedition in my dining room. I've never been close to a bailer though - I've heard enough horror stories.

And welcome, Brandon!

Don said...

Our house does that too - and the doors don't work right either when it's really cold. No frost on the floor though - I'd worry about the plumbing.

We tried the water thing - it works!