The Long Winter

If I were an elementary school teacher, I would definitely have a time period each afternoon where the kids put their heads down on their desks and listened to me read to them from Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Long Winter. Did your teachers ever do that? I have such a warm feeling inside when I remember a teacher taking the time to read aloud to us each day.
The book, The Long Winter, is so apropos for this year. It tells the story of Laura and her family on the Dakota frontier during a series of blizzards as food and fuel ran short.
Here in Ohio, we've had more snow fall that stayed on the ground, beginning in November than ever before.
We've had the coldest weather I can remember, with temperatures dipping down to -17 degrees, and that a straight thermometer reading, not counting the wind chill.
On Tuesday night through Wednesday morning, we had a big snow. Even with our increased snowfall, we usually stop after three inches or so. The other night, the snowfall must have been six to eight inches with a nice crust of ice on top.

I went out to shovel the snow, since my classes were cancelled and Earl still had to go to work. The snow was deep enough along the front steps that it looked like a giant ski jump rather than a set of stairs.

Underneath the ice, the snow was heavy and wet. So perfect for a snowball fight or building a snow fort or snowman. But I had no one to play with in the snow. The temperature was pretty perfect too, about 28 degrees. I had on layers, but didn't wear a winter coat. By the time I finished, my thick sweater and knit cap were wet from the snow that continued to drift down.

I cleared our sidewalk and the neighbors on either side.

Then I went over to another neighbors house; she's in her late 70s and I knew she'd be out to try to shovel. The heavy wet snow was not anything she should tackle.

As I shoveled my way up to her door, I saw another woman trying to clear out her driveway where the snow plows had pushed the snow from the road. The snow pile was up to my waist. We worked on that for awhile until she was able to get her car through. 

I had one more neighbor to help before I  could abandon my shovel.

Earl walked past on his way to wait for the bus. Since the county had declared a Level Two snow emergency, the bus would be free.

He waited for nearly an hour before he came home for the car and gave a ride to several of his companions waiting for the bus.

Our little city does pretty well at clearing the roads, and good thing because today the temperature plummeted down into single digits and it's supposed to be even colder. 

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.