Extreme Cold Weather

The cold weather has prevented me from running outside for nearly a week.
The school kids got a day off on Tuesday because of the extreme cold. The temperature was -17 Fahrenheit on Tuesday morning, that's -27 Celcius, and the wind chill was -30 Fahrenheit.
Wednesday morning, the air had warmed up to -9 degrees. That's -23 Celcius. Every school district in the county was closed except one other town and us.
Our town doesn't have school buses. Instead, everyone is close enough to walk or they get dropped off by their parents. The superintendent said he doesn't close school for cold weather unless the wind chill is at -18 degrees. Did he want to walk to school at -17 degrees?

These are snow rollers -- apparently a rare snow phenomenon. 

I thought it was still too cold for kids to walk to school. I decided to prove my point by walking to the coffee shop, which is actually closer than the school.
I set off in my warm boots, hat, gloves, scarf and winter coat.
 After nearly a mile, my cheeks were so cold, and my thighs in my corduroy pants were burning hot, in a way that thing probably feel right before frostbite. (Earl joked that maybe my corduroys rubbing together caused a spark, and I forgave him for the fat joke.)
I walked into the Starbucks just in time to keep from freezing.
I could see one of the barristas making comments about people being crazy to walk through the cold weather for coffee. I explained that I was trying to prove a point that the superintendent was wrong to have school that morning.
My son is lucky because he can drive to school. But there are plenty of kids in the city who can't get a ride; their parents leave for work before the kids go to school.
Standing at the Starbucks thawing, I called Earl and asked him to pick me up. He was just out of the shower and came to get me. Then we drove up toward the school to see if anyone needed a ride.
We found Tucker's friend Sam walking toward the school. He hopped in the backseat and we delivered him at school.

When the snow is just wet enough and in an
open place, the wind catches it and causes
it to roll up like a rug. Isn't this cool?

As we headed back home, we saw another boy walking. We stopped for him and ferried him up to the school too.
I also felt really bad for the crossing guards who stood outside to make sure the kids crossed the street safely.
This morning, the temperature had climbed all the way up to 3 degrees Fahrenheit (-16 Celcius), so I pulled on two pairs of running tights and an extra fleece.
I ran for about 34 minutes in the cold before returning home. It felt great to get back out there, but when I walked in the house, the sweat from my run, the cold outside and the warmth of the house all came together to hit me with a wave of nausea.
Still, I'm happy that I could run once again.
The weather forecast calls for some snow tonight. I'm still planning to get out there and run before the predicted storms next week.