NOW we're gonna pay for it...

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 Parent Winter took pity on us the end of last week, providing a warm respite from the many long months that are winter in Wyoming.

No need for winter gear Friday and Saturday as the air, under the warm and blazing sun, reached what felt like 50+ degrees.

Ice and snow melted, leaving dried dead grass peeking through where once only “that white crusted stuff” had been visible lo these past months.  

 Colder weather began to move in last evening. 

This morning, thousands of tiny icy flakes are falling from the sky (although the sun is trying to peek through).

And there is this, from the underground weather:

Much colder. Lows 25 below to 30 below zero. Northeast winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow is 70 percent. Wind chill readings 40 below to 50 below zero.

For Pete’s Sake—did I REALLY sign up for this?

My Chicago peeps: I hear you are in for a really BIG one.  Stay safe and warm.

My D.C. peeps: I hope whatever hits the Northeast stays far enough North.

Be warm, be safe and be thankful though if you don’t have wind chill readings of 40 to 50 below—or colder!!

That Imp of Perversity….

While the EC was getting pummeled yesterday afternoon, we had a rather balmy afternoon up here on the high altitude plain.

 

The sun appeared mid-morning and with 30+ degrees it felt "spring-like" by mid-afternoon.

Alas, spring-like weather isn’t due for another four to six months.

D.C. Friend JAK called while sitting in bumper to bumper traffic somewhere along Wisconsin Avenue. 

He saw a plow truck pushing cars up an icy patch along the avenue.

Said he had been sitting in traffic for nearly two hours—a ride that can normally take 25 to 40 minutes in regular rush hour traffic. 

He had to get off the phone because his wipers were sleeting up.

I love the irony of living at 7,200…

·       no traffic to contend with during the crazy wind blowing snowstorms

·       no run on the food stores whenever there’s mere mention of snow, which seems to be nearly everyday

·       no school—or town—closings due to inclement weather

·       no crazy drivers spinning out of control, or at least not in town—oh wait!  “I’m” out there…but I’m learning!)

The interstate and “all roads leading out-of-town” are, however,  another story.

 

Too often drivers don’t heed recommended speed reduction from 75 MPH to 40 MPH—or less.

Big Macs, without cargo to weigh them down, literally get caught up in wind gusts and jack knife, or worse.

Temporary road closings occur regularly.

This morning I had 10 WYDOT messages alerting me that sections of I-80 were closed late last evening and again this morning between Laramie and Cheyenne.

When the roads close food—and other—trucks ostensibly can’t get to town. 

To my knowledge this has happened just once since we’ve moved here—a meat truck didn’t make it to the Safeway.

But this can happen anywhere. 

I remember a storm in the D.C. metro area that kept supply trucks from reaching food stores and store shelves were bare for a day or two.

Besides, the roads here don’t say closed for days, only hours, which, admittedly, can wreak havoc with travel plans to DIA.   

Road closings here can make one feel kind of claustrophobic, at least newbies to this part of the universe.

Have you seen, on a map, where we live?

For now though, I’m content to keep any trekking between home, the food shops and downtown. 

That is, until the Legal Dude needs his Whole Foods or “big box” fix in Ft. Collins, CO.

Then I’ll look at the sky—sniff the air—hold a wet my finger up to the sky—watch the TWC—read those WYDOT messages more intently—and make certain the car is packed with  “just in case we get stuck” gear.

Be safe out there…

Dress Code

It was a balmy 15 degrees this morning.

Light, wet misty flakes fell intermittently all day, but heavier snow is expected overnight.

It was a good day for the teenager to have a home game and not travel.

He has to dress on game days—in dress slacks, dress shoes, button down and tie.

Now, if he can just learn how to tie his tie

He doesn’t complain one bit…

Amazing!

Thanks coach!

“Outed”or the "Way We Were"

[Outed: To reveal some previously secret part of someone's life, as in Valerie Plame who was "outed" by the Bush Administration as a CIA agent—Urban Dictionary]

I like [need] to maintain anonymity on this blog.

Family and friends who read this blog know who we are and what we look like. 

My cousin M.H.C., however, recently “outed” me on Facebook, so I figure I have no choice but to post these here… 

Fishing with my older bro...or two members of the "Little Rascals" who have gone AWOL   

With my late cousin Rick, who looks like he's about to "whack" me with that racquet

 

 

With mom, dad, and younger bro, probably in Grant Park

With several of my many, many cousins at one our many family gatherings at the "kid's table"

With mom and one of my many, many aunts--just gotta love those glasses!

With one of my many, many uncles--when we were both much younger!

Thanks coz M.H.C for the memories...

Living Life in the Negative…

It was in the negatives again (-3 with the wind chill) when the teenager walked to school this morning.

I’ll be honest…

There have been days when I drove the teenager the long block to school.

Taken sometime last April, or even May, when the snowy icy crystals around town were absolutely fantabulous! 

I worried that he might get frost bite during the four-minute walk in the gusting wind and with wind chill temps registering -6, -12 or -21.

This was taken on a good day--sometimes it's impossible to see the school buildings just across the field.

We are, after all, used to more temperate climes of the Mid-Atlantic.

Besides, the teenager continues to insist on wearing just his hoodie.

Then I began to notice his classmates, both guys and gals, dressed just as idiotically as the teenager trudging across the icy tundra wearing…shorts!

The trudge across the tundra...

Okay.  So these kids were born and raised here and their dermis layers more likely resemble those of a whale, arctic seal or polar bear.

The older UDub kids aren’t any better…last January I wrote about university kids who attend class in shorts and flip flops during the middle of January and February, or whenever the temps hover upwards of freezing.

Even I have to admit, however, I wear less outerwear here than on the EC on most days, unless the ubiquitous Wyoming wind is really blowing. 

Then outcomes my EC outerwear. 

Ironic, no?

Stay toasty out there…

Survival Gift

Recently I jokingly mused whether the Legal Dude was becoming a Wyomingite.

While the Legal Dude and I have certainly embraced aspects of the Wyoming mindset—a more relaxed and slower “stop and smell the roses” attitude—we may have lived too long on the East Coast (EC) for a true metamorphosis to occur.

Or perhaps we’re just too uptight—in our own idiosyncratic ways.

He:  Occasionally still drives like an EC impatient type A commuter and desperately misses Whole Foods and some of those big box stores. 

Me:  Still afeard of bears—or anything with four legs and teeth—and (sometimes) the beautiful and open, but oh so empty, spaces with nary another soul in sight.

(What, I ask, happens if one becomes lost, or breaks a leg and/or encounters a four-legged critter with big teeth?  And what if this occurs during inclement weather—like now?)  

Well my coz, Big J, who hails from Denver and all things Outward Bound, sent us a little holiday gift to help soothe the worries.

Big cousin J came to visit a month or so ago and told us everything we need to have in the car—a big empty coffee can with a candle; matches; plenty of water and snacks; extra socks, gloves, and hats; and blankets—as a precaution against the Wyoming winds and blowing snow while traveling. 

I guess he wasn’t convinced the EC city cousins had listened with quite the attentive ear and so sent these much welcomed gifts…

Everyone needs a little red Swiss Army knife--so he sent three!

Thanks to Big cousin J, we now travel with most—if not the coffee can and candle—of his suggested items and I don't have to worry about getting lost when exploring the many empty off-off roads that are Wyoming (in July and August, that is).

Just another small step forward to becoming a true Wyoming family—hardly!  

For all you academic types out there: Hope your reentry back into work week isn’t too harsh.

Bragging rights…

Do I have them?

Count them--four!

Can I be proud and boast my straight “As” again, this semester?

Being a student is hard work, even when it’s fun.

4 courses, 12 credit hours, was a lot for this “non-traditional” student.

Here’s to hoping I can maintain my perfect score…

Happy 2011

I must have been too relaxed, or maybe too busy getting ready for company on New Year’s Eve, to journal a Happy New Year’s greeting.

So a belated but very heartfelt “Happy New Year” to all you peeps out there.  I hope 2011 is a banner year.   

In truth, I have steered clear of my laptop, logging on only occasionally—to check university e-mails—since my last and final paper submitted three weeks ago.

Said weeks have provided a nice respite for catching up on trivial reading, which is something I had not done since the semester began way back in August.

While I have a stack of books next to my bed waiting to be read, I instead plucked two fiction books—from the University’s Coe Library—on Wyoming, one of which is a selection of short stories by Annie Proulx of The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain fame… 

I'm told Annie Proulx lives here, somewhere in Wyoming

I find I have a penchant for reading about my adopted—and much loved—state, its history, places and people.  

I also read the posthumous bestseller, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (though not certain I want to see the movie) and Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, which I wish I could say I enjoyed but found to be a huge disappointment and rather boring. 

Although no longer a Menno gal myself, I fear R Janzen has done a disservice to Mennos everywhere 

But alas, reading for the sheer pleasure of reading is all too soon coming to an end. 

Classes begin anew next Monday.

I thought I was ready.   

I thought this upcoming semester would be less intense, less stressful and less work.

That is until I went to the purchase my books this afternoon and discovered I have to read this tome….

This--nearly 1,000 pages--is just one of 4 books for this particular class

The student cashier behind the checkout counter lifted the book, whistled and said, “SOMEbody is going to be busy this semester!”  

Yup. 

That somebody is me.

But hey—it is by choice, after all, and being a full time student (at my age) is, indeed, a true luxury.

Onward and forward...

Feliz Navidad!