Oh, the Weather Outside Is ... Just Weird!

As I write this, the temperature outside is ten degrees. Fahrenheit. But later in the week we are expecting it to climb above freezing, and we may actually see a little rain. At times like that it feels more like late Autumn than mid-January. But not today. Today it is undoubtedly Winter.

Snow finally came on Thursday morning, just in time for school to be cancelled. William was disappointed, because a day off school also meant the cancellation or postponement (we don't know which) of our Book Talk Club. This month's book was Jerry Spinelli's wonderful Stargirl, and we were both looking forward to discussing the book with our friends. Perhaps we'll get the chance soon.

There was still ice on the roads Friday morning, so school was delayed for two hours so the roads could be made safe for the busses. In an area as spread out as ours, we rely heavily on the busses. If the busses don't run, there is no school.

There wasn't any school for Danny anyway. He woke up with a stomach bug. But he was over it enough by Saturday to go out and play in the snow. Yesterday was cold, but not bitterly so.

Today is another story. We don't expect the temperature to climb above 20 today, so we (with the exception of poor Karen, who had to work) are huddling inside with the heat turned up until things outside  warm up to, say, freezing or so.

We're planning to make some brownies, maybe a batch of cookies, and something baked for dinner tonight. Anything to make the house feel warmer. Eating the extra calories doesn't hurt, either,

This frost-covered spider web greeted us as we were saying good-bye to Karen this morning, and she insisted that I take a picture, and so I insist on sharing it with you. Especially after freezing my fingers off to get it.

For the most part, I have not had a big problem with the weather in New Hampshire in the decade that I've lived here. But on a day like this, California sound pretty good. Especially when I see that it is currently 46 degrees in LA, with an expected high of 62. I normally have the thermostat inside my house set to 62 this time of the year, so that sounds ever so comfortable.

But California is not in the cards for us this Winter, nor Florida, nor Hawaii, nor any of the other warm spots we dream about on cold days like this. But Spring is only about nine weeks away, and although the beginning of Spring here is far colder than the middle of Winter in California (or Florida or Hawaii—oh, stop, I'm just torturing myself), the contrast makes it feel downright tropical.

In the meantime, we give our daily thanks. To the inventors of Polar Fleece.