Monday, January 7, 2013

January thaw

It was a minor thaw today, making it to 36º by mid afternoon. PW is still in town until sometime tomorrow although she's doing a bit of part time work with her son's mortgage company. But this afternoon, in the "heat of the day" we took a little stroll around the neighborhood. It's not a particularly scenic time of year, especially if there hasn't been a fresh snowfall in a few days, but it was nice enough to visit the ice rink at Linwood and walk past the tennis court to the St Clair stairs which get you back to the neighborhood streets. The rink wasn't being used when we were there, but it has clearly seen some use in the last few weeks. The job of flooding the rink goes to an employee of the playground, but whoever is doing it hasn't been able to master the art of attaining a smooth ice surface. This one had plenty of bumps and imperfections. It's clearly for free skating rather than hockey - no boards - but I'm pretty sure that doing a spin or attempting an axel on this surface would test the skater's skill. PP left her skates in Oslo, so she won't be doing any tricks on this surface.


A St Paul intersection - at the top of the St Clair stairs - which demonstrates the state of the streets around here. The ice melted a bit today, but the temperature is back to below freezing. They're slippery. And so are the sidewalks. On the way back home from Grand Avenue, PW nearly fell on an icy patch, but managed to right the ship and made it home unscathed. I guess this helps explain the phenomena of snowbirds.


Herb's creeping crud is a little better, but still has a way to go to get back to normal. PP is going out to dinner with a friend tonight. PW and I are going shopping.

1 comment:

Retired Professor said...

Ice is tricky, and it does indeed explain the phenomenon of snow birds. I can tolerate the cold, but too many people I know have taken nasty falls on ice -- though all have lived to tell about it.

I predict a warm week, with cold air returning next week.