Wind chill

It was below zero this morning when I awoke, and still below zero when I went out to shovel the inch or so of new snow off the sidewalks. But the sun was shining. It's been AWOL for most of the month and it was nice to see it again, even if it means that the air is below zero. I went out and took a few photos of the morning sun on the newly fallen snow. As you can perhaps tell, the local rabbits were there before me.

I had a little exercise this afternoon. NCW and I had a trek up to Grand Avenue to see how the cold was affecting the area, and to visit a couple of shops - well mostly to warm up before we trekked home again. Ten Thousand Villages was cool - they have handmade items from third world nations that they sell for sort of high prices. But we were just looking. Then we stopped at Cook's - a kitchen supply store - and looked at overpriced pots, pans and other kitchen paraphernalia. They have nice kitchen gadgets, knives and oven thermometers, etc. We warmed up and then walked the four or five blocks home.

Did I say it was cold today? The school systems in Minneapolis and, I think, St Paul are closing school tomorrow because of the cold. There's supposed to be a wind chill of -35º tomorrow. That's kind of wimpy. I remember walking to school on the Iron Range in the fifties when it was -40º real temperature, and the walk was uphill both ways. Down Hunter's Hill, through Longyear Park and past Trout Lake. And I had inadequate footwear. Maybe I was barefooted.

Our new kitchen shades came and they were installed yesterday. They look like they will fit the place nicely. Eli, the giraffe with a wooden heart, stands and guards the back yard. PP came for dinner and noticed the silhouette of the giraffe on the shades from the outside in the gathering darkness. She said it looked cool. Maybe I'll try to capture that feeling in a photo. Watch for it.

A new year for blogging. I think I'll try to be a bit more regular this year. It's kind of fun.