Yes, it is winter and this is Michigan. But there are years when I cannot get a photo like this. Our winter weather varies wildly from year to year and even within a single season. One year when Mouse was in about sixth grade, she did not have a winter jacket. We could not find one that she liked. I was fretting about being a “bad mother” until we got about halfway through the winter and I realized that she didn’t really neeeeeed a winter jacket. Why? Because it wasn’t cold. She got by with various hoodies and other layers. Eventually we had a teensy-tinesy little cold snap. It occurred during the “mid-winter” break and she went downhill skiing with some friends and I strongly encouraged forced her to wear my ski jacket. You can under-dress for x-c skiing, in fact it is advised because you are getting a lot of exercise and it can be easy to overheat. Downhill skiing is a whole different thing. (Once upon a time, I did downhill skiing. I wasn’t all that good at it but I loved it.)

This year is a whole different thing and so, this morning after I took my walk, I was shoveling snow at the Landfill and I took this loverly fuzzy little photooo. Or tried to. As I was about to hit the button, my phone proclaimed that it was out of battery and promptly shut down. I knew it was lying to me because it had been at something like 92% when I left for my walk. I also knew (from experience) that it had probably spazzed because of the cold weather. This actually posed a worse problem for me than not being able to take a picture. I couldn’t unlock the front door. We have a new touch system and if I have my phone in my pocket, all I have to do is touch the lock to unlock it. Fortunately, I had stuffed a set of keys in my other pocket and was able to open the door with the emergency key. Note to self: when it is bitterly cold out, make sure you have a physical key with you in case the virtual one craps out.

I am the Hat Police! I do not understand how people can be outside in temperatures like this (two degrees above zero at the moment) without a blasted hat! I suited up and walked over to the Plum Market in the late afternoon and I could not believe how many people were walking around without hats. Yer fav-o-rite blahgger was wearing her balaclava, which is a loverly piece of headgear except that it kind of keeps falling down over her eyes and she has to constantly adjust it so she can see. It is annoying… I’m sure all those hatless folks drove to the Plum Market and probably most of them drove out of heated garages but still. What if you drive your vee-hickle off the road into a snowbank and you have to haaaannngg around waiting for a tow truck? Please wear a hat. Nobody cares what yer damn hair looks like. Really. Or at least keep one in yer vee-hickle. Also, a shovel and a blanket and some decent boots. Oh, and a pair of YakTrax!

This entry was posted on Monday, January 27th, 2014 at 6:48 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.