winter – Nomadic Noesis

On Today’s Walk: Snow Here and There and Here Again

Today’s walk about the neighborhood started out in fog–brain fog. It was pretty darned cold, but I couldn’t remember where I had stowed those nice new electric gloves. I vaguely recalled putting them “some place obvious” where “I’ll be sure to look.” At least I got a lot of indoor steps in my search, as well as finding a warm headband that’s been lost for a while.

I finally left wearing older, less thermal gloves. My hands did mostly okay. Once I had my focus on other things, of course, the memory of the “obvious location” snuck up on me and announced itself. I verified when I got home the new hand warmers were in fact in the carrying bag that came with them, hanging in my closet. I had even seen the bag, but we have dozens of reusable totes around. And I’ve had a lot on my mind, okay? Stop judging! LOL.

The only pics I got this afternoon were crap because it was pretty chilly to have my bare hands exposed. Here are a couple anyway, for documentation purposes.

Dirty ice/snow mix between street and brown grass.

Small piles of snow along the edge of the road.

We’ve had three significant snows since New Year’s Day, and there are still remnants here and there. From what I’m hearing, this might be my last walkabout for a few days. More you know what is on the way, accompanied by subzero temperatures. I don’t remember a winter this unrelenting in well over a decade.

But hey, I’m proud of myself for getting outdoors today anyway. And I’m grateful for the time and resources that have allowed me to stock up on provisions for weathering a week in New Siberia. For anyone else in the path of the coming system, take care, and know I’m wishing you well.

Maybe my next “On Today’s Walk” post will simply be images from different rooms in my house.

On Today’s Walk: Toasty Fingers

For the past couple of weeks, I have been driving my car to get from point A to point B on most trips. I was becoming desperate for a walk in the fresh air. So despite the arctic temperatures

Screenshot show 11 degrees F, feels like -1 degree F

along with lingering patches of snow and ice from our recent winter storms, I took myself out for a short ramble around my immediate neighborhood this afternoon.

It was too cold to take many photos, but I did click one in an attempt to capture the feel of things.

Sidewalk, street and yard with patches of snow and significant ice.

Yep, that’s Winter with a capital “W.” But I know how to layer up. And now, I have something that’s a game changer for wintertime strolls.

My husband found a nice post-holiday sale on electric gloves. He ordered a pair for each of us.

Pair of black electric gloves with power light on.

No matter how insulated I was able to keep everything else, I always had cold fingers outside when the temp dipped below about 25 degrees Fahrenheit. But no more! These battery-powered beauties kept my digits toasty.

Now I only need to find some kind of electric nose tip warmer and I’ll be completely set!

Snow Days Without Children

Snowy yard and driveway with houses across the street, seen from a window

I’ve had two different inclement weathers days off work this past week, which made me nostalgic for the snow days of yore when my kids were young. Sure, there was some inconvenience involved, but also so much magic and fun. I loved sledding, snowball fights and sculpting creatures to decorate our yard.

I admit, I also realize I took for granted the level of energy I had back then. The work of getting through winter takes more out of me now. But I still want to enjoy it. I wonder how weirdly people would take it if I showed up alone at one of the popular sledding hills in town all on my own, just this 60-year-old woman.

I’m still healthy and strong enough to wield a shovel. But the big yard where the kids could play when we bought our house came with a long stretch of sidewalk that takes a while to dig out. We have a shared driveway with an apartment building, and the owners hire someone to remove snow. However, for the Sunday/Monday weather event, he had equipment problems, which meant a huge mess at the end of the drive where the city snowplows repeatedly left a lumpy, frozen wall, and our neighbor with a large pickup kept driving through it.

Piles of rutted snow at the end of a driveway — Where the driveway ends you’ll find snowplow debris there.

I knew if we were to get our own cars out I had to move mountains before the overnight Monday freeze. My husband was wrapped up in telework deadlines while my son was under the weather. And I don’t believe any of the next-door tenants own shovels. So this heavy labor fell to me. I took a break for a photo about halfway through the job. After 90 minutes, I finally had it passable for cars.

Smoothed down snow over driveway, with footprints.

After that, my arms were jelly, and I only wanted to sit quietly with a cup of tea.

Along about Thursday night, here came a second snowstorm, one that kept accumulating all Friday morning. For that one, the apartment owners found someone who had a heavy-duty truck with a plow on front. He got the apartment lot and driveway passable pretty quickly. But in the process, he walled in all egress points from our house. After the snow stopped, I went out our side door believing I only had to clear our porch steps and front walkway, but encountered this:

Wall of plowed snow chunks blocking a walkway

Fortunately, it was fresh with no melt and refreeze, so not tooooo difficult to work through. And then there was the wall blocking the front walkway from our porch to the drive and the wall built up behind our cars at the edge or our carport.

Snow piled up behind three cars — That snow wall is higher than it looks.

This all turned into another hour and a half session. However, the temperature was perfect for being outdoors in snow – right around 30 degrees with no wind. I was pretty tuckered again, but not so much I didn’t consider at least making a small snowperson.

However, I decided our block was represented well enough by the neighbors’ large one.

I was able to take a few minutes to enjoy the sights, so joy found its way through the drudgery. I do love the beauty of winter.

Close up of booted foot (black snow boot) with jeans tucked in and snow more than ankle high behind — Good footwear is essential

Sunflower with many blooms in winter snow. Each blossom hangs like a round snowy ornament — Good footwear is essential

Someone else was traipsing through the snow.

But it wasn’t this guy, who doesn’t know what all the fuss is about.

He did keep me company while I rested up with a cup of tea. So he earned his keep in that way.

On Today’s Walk: BRRR Christmas Edition

Two feet in black snow boots. — Ready to go

I spent a good deal of yesterday cooking, enough to carry my household through two days in fact. We opened gifts yesterday evening. That means I was free to take a nice long walk today.

For some reason

Screenshot of weather conditions. 19 degrees F, feels like 9.

I had the park to myself today.

I discovered a portal to another world, but it looked equally cold there, so I stuck with this one.

log with round hole, showing snowy ground through it.

It was a peaceful neighborhood stroll. But I did find the superhighway to Rabbiton:

Merry happy to everyone!

On Today’s Walk: Winter Walking

Here’s a game changer for my winter walks. A new coat, with much warmer sleeves than my old one. The temperature was 32, with a real feel of 27, but I was snuggly warm for two and a half miles. I also had on thermal underwear, so there’s that, too.

The Winter Queen brushed her fingertips along the landscape as she went by.

All hail the Queen!

Bow down before Her Majesty.

Mid-April Rebellion

Here it is mid-April and a good chunk of the country is freeezzzziiiinng. That Laura Ingalls Wilder book, “The Long Winter” is going to need to be renamed “The Longish Winter” now that there’s this one to compare it to.

But I’m soldiering on. I’m participating in the 30 Days of Biking April challenge by walking every day and calling it 30 Days of Walking. I’m participating in National Poetry Writing Month, informally, by writing a poem every day but keeping most of them to myself instead of linking to the official site. I guess I have a hard time conforming or something. Which is a segue to a poem I am going to share.

I hope to start an uprising, a rebellion if you will, called “Kick Winter Out of April.” Here’s the manifesto.

Mid-April Rebellion

Fine. I’ll hold off on planting vincas
but I won’t succumb to a parka.
The wind might chap my skin
but I won’t pretend it’s winter
when the calendar’s shown spring
for weeks. The hyacinth
and magnolia stand with me
in solidarity
if not heartiness.
Their blooms aren’t the best
this year, yet they make their stand.
I, too, go forth as planned –
no coat, no scarf, no hat.
Gooseflesh? Shivering? I’ve had worse than that.
I will not concede. My arms are bare!
I declare spring. So there!