Dealing with the Deep Freeze

It wasn't a record*, not even close.  But it was still cold.

I let the hounds out last night, forcing them to do nature's business.  Not easy with cold canines.  The Springfield PreciseTemp mocked me (and the dogs) at -26°F.  The air temperature here was literally colder than AGO-5 base in Antarctica.

No, I'm not making that up.  I checked.  Trust me.

The windchill was a brutal -48°F.  If you've never experienced cold like that, you really should once in your lifetime.  Just because.

When it is that cold at night, you truly do hear the sound of silence outside (so this is what Paul Simon was talking about!).  No cars.  No trains.  No barking dogs.  No drunken neighbors fighting over who is running to Wal-Mart for Pop Tarts.  Just the constant pop and crack of the trees as they strain and stress against the stupidcold** temperatures.

It really is an eerie sound.

Much to the Boy's and the Girl's delight, there was a Star Wars marathon on television this past Saturday.  The stupidcold temperatures prevented them from going outside, so they got schooled on all things Star Wars.  Unfortunately, they asked many questions which I deemed unanswerable.

If they needed to know something about John, Paul, George or Ringo, I'd be their man.

But I can't give answers on Tauntauns or Plo Koon.  Sounds like raging venereal diseases to me.

~

Despite the polar ice cap temperatures, we got out of the house this weekend.  We visited the Honorable Commish and his family as he continues to convalesce after his opening-of-the-abdominal-cavity-and-repairing-the-guts adventure.  I was happy to see he looked none the worse for wear, although still not back to 100%.  There was good food and good conversation.  And I had a teasing taste of Fitger's Apricot Wheat Ale which has given me Duluth fever.  I love that stuff.

Anyway, it was great to get together, even if I had to swallow my pride and pay up my fantasy football wager.  You win some, you lose some.  Revenge shall be mine next year.

Lastly, I would like to wish my brother Bob a belated Happy Birthday (one day late)!  Bob is the middle child, although he is 20 years, 9 months and 3 days older than me.  It is typical of me not to remember shit birthdays and I needed Facebook to remind me that it was my own brother's birthday yesterday (in my defense, I knew it was early January...)

The Honorable Commish, yours truly and Bob (L to R) , summer 2006.

I hope you had a great day, Bob.


*the record in Baxter, MN is -51°F, set 4 Feb 1907 and 23 Jan 1935.  I checked.  Trust me.
**stupidcold: (adj) really, really cold; used in place of the f-word to describe frigid conditions.