I Now Know What Cold Is

Yes Virginia, it is cold in Idaho in January. Right now I sit in the living room of our house at 4PM and the thermometer is reading 6 degrees above zero. When I left for work this morning it was 15 below zero. All this above and below zero stuff makes my head hurt. This is also dangerous cold weather. You can get frostbite in temps like this. Last week I was out shoveling and lost the feeling in one of my fingers. That is a strange sensation; very similar to coming home from the dentist, except you haven't gotten a shot of anesthetic. I happened to be wearing gloves that had the fingers cut out, you know for more dexterity? Won't be using them anymore this winter!

Yesterday Karren and I met a couple of friends and watched them set off on cross country skis. It looks very interesting and we may try it soon. Trying to hobble through the foot deep snow behind them was not fun though. We will need to find an outdoor winter activity for middle-aged fat people, one that won't put us both in the hospital or require emergency calls to a helicopter for evacuation. We can rent equipment from the university cheap, so we can try out different stuff and see what we like. I can see this being a great way to get out and get some real Cardio exercise. We could start out just making a trail around our property. Seems like every hobby we get is expensive though.

Today there was a cattle drive down the road in front of the house. It is fun to see the cowboys on horseback with their herding dogs, driving the cattle forward. The herd had a large cloud of steam overhead, due to the single digit temperatures. It was a romantic sight straight out of the old west and it made me feel like a part of the culture. I got so distracted I forgot to take a picture until they were down the road a ways. If you look closely you'll see the fog over the clump of cows and horses.

Snow is a daily occurrence during January in Southeast Idaho. Even if there isn't actual snow falling, there will be "freezing fog" that drops ice crystals out of thin air. When the light is angled just right there is an amazing interplay of tiny diamonds and colors when this happens.

When the wind is not blowing it is actually fun to be out in the cold, as long as you are moving/doing something. Today I shoveled our entire driveway and sidewalk with no ill effects. I still haven't gotten used to my breath freezing and forming ice in my mustache. The snow itself is quite different from what I've ever experienced in Virginia. When it gets dirty it still acts like snow. The snow on the roadways does not turn into slush, even in the middle of the day. Because of the cold temps it remains frozen as snow and stays there until the plows push it out of the way or the wind blows it off. Often, the cars and trucks themselves blow the highways clean.

"Hear the snow crunch, see the kids bunch" etc. Yes, the snow really does crunch, no matter where you step. Shoveling this white stuff is a breeze compared to fighting with the snow back east. A shovel full of snow only weighs a pound or two, not twenty to forty. It is so dry that it is impossible to form a snowball. Karren is very upset at not being able to make a snowman. However there is a home in McCammon that has one in their front yard, although it is a bit deformed. She wants to go and ask them how they did it.

We are expecting temps in the 20's by the end of the week. It will feel like summer! I'll be able to get in the car when I go to work and not have to worry whether my drink will freeze before the car warms up. I usually have to finish whatever I start drinking on the way to work, because if I leave it in the car while working it is frozen solid when I get off. It sucks to have to go buy another drink because the one you have is frozen!

Well, life goes on here in the frozen wastes. Everyone says the rest of the year is worth the price paid during the winter. I think the jury is still out on that one! I only hope that by the next time I write I still have all my fingers and toes. Have you ever watched those shows about the climbers on Mt. Everest? You know, the ones where they are always stressing the real life drama of people trying to avoid frostbite in 20 below temps? Reality check: I live that now! So keep me in your prayers and think warm thoughts. Maybe the global warming fairy will show up around here sometime soon and give us some relief.

And I thought the guy that was helping us move in was joking when he mentioned thirty below here in Marsh Creek Valley...

P.S. It's snowing again...