Another Day....Another Day

Today is the eighty-third day of Winter here in the upper Midwest. As of Sunday, I have quit chastising others for complaining about the snow and cold. Winters here used to be like this. We had snow day, days without power because of crippling ice storms, and snow piled higher than a car EVERYWHERE. Sounds a lot like today, doesn't it?

The difference is, we were able to stay home from school, build snow forts, and go ice skating in the backyard. Now, the agenda entails making the sidewalk navigable, clearing the nearest fireplug, shoveling the driveway so I can get in and out for work, trying to walk the dog in all of this - particularly hard when the temperature makes it difficult to bear being outside. Sure, we can still build the snow forts and ice skate, but after a full day at work, and then the fight to keep a status quo at the homestead, who has the energy?

Times like this, I argue that Man is a creature who was meant to hibernate like the bears. Face it, we start putting up for the winter -- lay in the wool sweaters, get out the boots and comforters. A lot of us seem to have the tendency to bulk up at that time of year, as well. And with the shorter days, snoozing away the winter is a mighty tempting notion. As a positive person, I look forward to winter because I can pull my turtlenecks out of storage, and all the items I've been knitting get some use. True, when it's REALLY cold, I don't like to go outside, and when it snows a lot, I can't walk the dog ANYWHERE. But, Christmas is coming, and the chill in the air is invigorating, and I have high hopes. I rejoice on December 21st, the shortest day of the year, and then watch the skies each evening for later and later sunsets. It has worked for my state of mind for many years -- until this year. Up until Sunday, I was also enjoying the photos I was getting of the many faces of this fabulous winter.

This year is the year of weather records. The first January tornado happened just a few scant miles from my own abode. The temperatures haven't seen 30 degrees for more than a day or two since sometime in December, or was it November. We are counting a record number of inches of snowfall -- somewhere around 80 or 90 inches, last I heard. Yes, despite all that, I was still reveling in WINTER up until this past Sunday morning. What happened Sunday?

I was dog-sitting for some friends this past weekend, and I'd gotten up early to run over there and take care of the dogs. I was dressed, ready to go, and just had to take my own sweet dog out for her morning constitution. As we opened the door, I saw the wooden steps were clean, and the cement patio below them was also free of snow, but had about 1/2" inch of water pooled because it was pouring rain. No problem; I was dressed warmly, even had a hood on to keep the water off my head. I told the exuberant dog at the end of the leash to be careful because the piles of snow all around the patio were probably very slippery (you know, rain on top of snow in the cold = ice). She made it off the steps and into the snow without a problem. Turned out the ice at the bottom of my steps was incredibly clear and slick. I went from step off--straight to flat on my back in the aforementioned 1/2" of very cold rainwater. The shock of it all allowed enough time for the freezing water to soak into my down vest, cotton sweatshirt, turtleneck, jeans and even my socks! My shoes were the only things that stayed dry because they were in the air!

Of course, I couldn't get up fast, because I had no footing. My poor dog stood at the end of her leash hoping that she hadn't caused me to fall. Once on my feet, I couldn't go straight into the house -- if you tell a dog she's going out to potty, it's not polite to change the rules on her.

I changed my clothes then, and went on with my day. The dogs I tended were well-enough behaved so that I was able to let them go out into their yard while I watched over them. I was so "ice-shy" by this time, I was willing to walk around with a bucket of ice-melt the rest of the day. The cold, pouring rain continued until about three o'clock, when the temperature dropped back into "bitter cold" regions. All of the water that had fallen from the sky since morning was turning into ice. I was back to take care of the dogs twice more that day before I was able to go home, put on a bathrobe and curl up with my aches and pains.

Turned out, I wasn't terribly hurt, in fact I think the fall put my chronic hip problem back into place. But my body ached and I must have hit my shoulder good when I went down, because that started to hurt about Tuesday. I have been achy, out of sorts, and yearning for sun and warmth every waking moment since.