Life in the Slow Lane

Everyone we've mentioned our plans to has said they are jealous. Why? We're making a weekend trip to California. Ha ha! Good-bye winter! As we board our plane, one of the flight attendants ask the kids, "Where are your coats?" I, the pushy mother, answer for them... Where we're going, we don't need coats! As our plane looped to head west from takeoff, we did a slow circle around the lake near our apartment. With the fresh snow fall from Monday night, we could see foot prints from a couple people who crossed from one side of the lake to the other. We weren't sure whether it had been cold enough for the larger lake to freeze completely. Now we know. Sixty-Nine days in to winter, and I'm more than ready for a break.

A mini snow day!

In amidst planning for our trip to California, my dedication to checking the weather slipped. Somehow I got completely surprised by the snow today. I finally extricated myself from the house and kids long enough to take the trash to the dumpster and stepped out with flip-flops and without jacket to real snow fall. But it's been one of those days that I dared not go back inside for better clothing choices. It was a now or never moment. And then there was the small detail about the meeting I needed to get to. SOS had class, and so for the first time since moving, I'd secured a real babysitter. Otherwise I would have chickened out or turned around at any of the multiple points in my drive where I thought "I'm going to crash. I'm going to crash. I'm going to crash." The snow came down fast enough that the normally-cleared roads weren't. I crept along at snail speeds, and even so did more sliding than I was prepared for. Maybe it was a mercy that the ...

You know those crowded lake-side campgrounds? Here’s the solution! Just freeze the water and then you’ve got so many more camping spots!  Or maybe this is the solution for insufficient winter housing for the homeless?

Should there be any observers of my driving habits, please note: I don't normally get so distracted by passersby. I'm merely attempting to learn various clothing options for surviving winter.

Winter Storm Jonas is the talk of the weather channel these days. It won't come our direction, though. I'm quite enough satisfied with the few inches of snow which seem to have been around for just about forever now. You know that whole idea of whiter than snow? I always thought it was a statement about the whitest object people of antiquity were familiar with. Now I wonder if a truer reading is a statement about how long the white lasts. Yes, that brown stuff is snow.

Like I said, a shining sun makes a lot of difference. Today I went biking and while it was (theoretically) only one degree cooler than my last outdoor bike ride, it was foggy... and I wasn't quite as comfortable. But you wouldn't know it. Doesn't this outfit look to be the epitome of comfort? Can you tell I'm smiling?

Double digit temps! Warm enough that I can get away with flip-flops to and from the laundry room. But still cold enough that the trees are wearing sweaters.

I didn't go outside at all today. Poor SOS was not so lucky. Since parking permits cost upwards of $1,000 a semester, he relies on the bus to get to and from classes. They have yet to invent heated bus stops. Or bus schedules that are adhered to with 100% accuracy. No frostbite yet, though. This being the first week back of classes, a few of SOS's classmates returned to Wisconsin from their homes. One classmate had a 100 degree temperature change between boarding her flight in Barbados and stepping off the plane in Madison. I thought it was special that I experienced (and survived while pregnant) 115 degree temperatures in California back in June and subzero temperatures now. At least I had seven months in between. 115 degrees in June at the splash pad.

There's the indoors, the outdoors, and then the underground. That is where we went today to escape the sameness of our indoors and the single digit temps of the outdoors. Fifty degrees!

Last Sunday I braved zero degree weather to make it to church. Well, okay, perhaps there was no bravery involved as it was accompanied by altogether too much complaining. Today was even colder. Yesterday, when SOS and I were discussing the forecasted high for today rising all the way to -4 degrees (with the windchill settling it down around -25), he joked that maybe this downward trend of Sunday temperatures was my own little version of John 21. "Do you love me?... Then feed my sheep." Only, "Do you love me?... Then attend church in [increasingly cold] weather." We both laughed, although perhaps there was a fair bit of internal squirming with my laugh. So I didn't complain at all this morning (not even to myself!). I dug out my warmest layers, stuffed my purse full of extra cold weather accessories for the kids for when they started complaining, and off to church it was. (And it was only -1... three whole degrees warmer than forecasted!) ...

I did it! I found a winning combination for biking in 19 degrees! (and sunny. Never underestimate the power of sun.) Of course I have to wear enough layers that you can't tell I've lost twenty-five pounds in the last three months (okay, some of that was a nine and a half pound baby). But still! I felt very successful as I comfortably biked around the lake polka-dotted by ice fishing parties. I felt so successful even, that we deemed it a perfect day to take the kids to the zoo. And we were so excited to be out in the sunshine on a glorious family Saturday, that we took a small detour to take a group selfie on the frozen lake across from the zoo. We were doing just fine, too, until the wind picked up and our exposed skin began to ache with the inconvenience of existence. So we hightailed it as quickly as we could across the parking lot and into the heated South American exhibit. I've always thought South America was a fabulous place to defrost. And while we...

Another warm day (above freezing!) but foggy. We had plans to go out, but a fever and a few choice two-year old quotations from Curious George Goes to the Hospital has us calling for an indoor family game night. Those are nice. Even if it does involve a fever.

It was gloriously sunny and warm today! I think it made it into the upper twenties! We actually could walk around without jackets and enjoy driving with the car window down! So of course, I went on a bike ride. A few pictures from my ride: Ducks be like The water be here somewhere. I tried to catch the different plates of ice and the frozen spray between them, but I'm just glad my hand was steady enough to get a blurry-free picture.

Have you ever tried convincing small children to get outside when the thermostat reads -1 and it feels a good deal colder than that? That was mission impossible this morning getting out the door for school drop off. Talk about lethargy. And lethargy times multiple layers times multiple kids equals LATE. I'm learning advanced mathematics these days, can't you tell?  At least one of the children is not old enough for me to rely on his cooperation or lack there of. Hey, isn't lethargy a sign of hypothermia? Before getting the kids in the car, I took our spare set of keys down to the car to start it and let it warm while I did last minute stuff with the kids. It was so cold, the automatic door locks wouldn't work. It was so cold that even after running the car's engine for half an hour before and during the drive, the heater wasn't sufficient to warm the car. It was so cold that I never was able to get the windshield wiper fluid to defrost. It was so cold ...

Some days suiting up to take out the trash and check the mail feels like a major accomplishment. Those same days are the days when I contemplate the sad paradox of ordering everything online so that it can be shipped to my door but then having to make multiple trips across the arctic parking lot to dispose of all of the shipping boxes and packaging.

Today I stayed home all day in my pajamas and watched the snow. After Fifty-Three Days of winter, I think I can believe that English should have 32 different words for snow. Saturday's snow was powdered sugar small, dusting everything like french toast in a consistent, purposeful few hours. Today's snow drifted lazily, as if it had no where it needed to be. One minute flurries would chase one direction, the next they would turn and stroll the other. Like pedestrians walking on a busy sidewalk -- some meandered, some rushed. After dark, when the snow had nearly stopped altogether, SOS urged me outside to show me this phenomenon. Have you ever seen dandelion fluff snow? Later that evening I went outside to bring up some laundry and the outside air demanded I take a moment to enjoy it. Two degrees and freshly fallen snow, such a time for a walk! The dandelion fluff is made up of enormous flat crystals that catch any light and shine it in a hundred different ways. I imagin...

Last night I experienced the second casualty of winter (the first being warmth). I had my hair cut. I figured I should have someone cut it before I went out one morning with wet hair and the freezing wind snapped my hair off at the roots. Now that it is a dozen inches shorter, it is much easier to dry it. But I digress from my story. As I was sitting in the salon chair, we were chatting about the weather turning miserably cold during the night, and the hair technician commented about how it probably didn't make a huge difference since we would probably both just stay in cozy pajamas all day. Now I have never thought myself to be particularly prone to the train of thought that goes, "Look God, do you see how good I'm being? Do you see how much I am sacrificing because I love you? Don't I deserve a special reward for just being so incredibly Christian right now?" But I've discovered that the cold brings it out in me. All the while as I dressed for chur...

The temperature is falling fast. The "feels like" temperature is in the middle of a 58 degree plunge over a period of 24 hours. Today's math problem: 38-58= Anyone know the answer? Because I can't quite compute it.

Rain. The good, old-fashioned form of precipitation that accompanies warmer weather. Can I tell you how lovely it felt? The last few days I've been thinking that I am so over winter. We've had our snow fun, New Year's Day has come and gone, now it's time to move on to spring. And today, glorious rain. Maybe I was right about the seasons after all . To celebrate, I stood in the rain unencumbered by jacket or umbrella. If it hadn't been for my arm candy (an infant in a covered car seat), I probably would have restaged a dance for "Singing in the Rain." I know the weather forecast has dire predictions for this weekend and possibly as long as the next ten days, but the seasonal aisles in the stores are filled now with gardening and camp-out supplies. Spring's gotta be just around the corner, right?

Today my super big Christmas present arrived: an indoor exercise bike. I don't intend to completely give up on outdoor winter bike rides, but as weekends are typically my best time to get out, and as this weekend we're looking at a high of 10 degrees (yes, that's Fahrenheit, folks), I bought a bike. I figured it was cheaper than finding a fleece lined wet suit flexible enough to bike in. As I was first settling in for a test ride, SOS offered to bring over a fan and fling ice water in front of it... you know, just in case I missed the feel of frozen wind blasting me on my ride.

I have decided that God made snow white for a similar reason that He gave us the moon. When the sun's primary attention is required elsewhere, the reflective property of the snow (and moon) can maximize the minimal attention. A message to greet me whenever I look out at the snow.

I don't suspect this is what they mean by "Christmas Goose." A few months ago I was quite traumatized when we drove by an expansive yard that included a St. Bernard chewing happily on a Canadian goose. It took a few more trips in the days following for me to realize the goose remains were of the plastic variety. Also notable about today: We discovered that it may not be the best idea to keep a diaper bag in the car. Of course, you are assured of having clean diapers and a change of clothing, but about those frozen baby wipes...

Today was sunny and warm (if you were lucky enough to avoid the breeze coming off the snow and you stood in the full sunlight at about noon in snow boots, two layers of pants, a down jacket, a hat, and gloves). It was the perfect day to go visit our friend the snowman we built a week ago. It was also the first day we saw ice fishing . Maybe it was even those exact fishermen.

Zero percent change of snow, or so says the Weather app. One thing we noticed when we made the move from Southern California, is that percentages of precipitation do not mean the same thing in other regions of the country. A twenty percent change of rain in Southern California means no rain at all. A twenty percent chance of rain in Seattle means a good drizzle. And I don't know if my memory serves me correctly, but I'm fairly certain that our first week in Madison, a twenty percent chance of rain ended up being a downpour of several inches of rain in such a brief amount of time that drain spouts had water pressure to rival broken pipes. All this to say, zero percent chance of snow today included eight or so hours or perfectly formed, stop-and-study-it snowflakes. Snowflake on car window. SOS decided today was a perfect day to go on an explore with CutieLittleBoy. They tromped through the snowy woods, studied animal tracks, and threw ice into the lake. Then, to ...

Siri agrees with me.  We were a little stunned in our mad dash to the car tonight. Waiting for our car to warm up we watched our breaths form little clouds and tried not to shiver in our double and triple layers. How cold is it? we wondered.  So SOS asked Siri, "What does it feel like right now?" "The weather is not very good right now." Nothing like some cold weather to stir up solidarity with a computer program.

Today we didn't work up the nerve to venture out of the house until after 8:00 PM. And at that time, of the errands we had planned to run, only Target welcomed us with open doors. And what a welcome. The store was nearly empty, and somehow my cooped up kids turned the quick trip into a competitive sport, with Dad's team and Mom's team. Of course, competitive sports require lots of running back and forth and even a few yells across nearly the full length of the store. Proud parenting moments, for sure.