Baby, It's Downright Freezing Outside!

So, lucky us!  The week we move to Colorado, our county experiences floods like they haven't seen in 500 years!  Destroying the St. Vrain Greenway, a pathway throughout Longmont for walking, hiking & biking ~ low on the priority list for repairs (we were paying $1 on our electric bills to maintain them...now we will pay $4 for repairs and I doubt we will be living here when they are ready for use again!!)  Damaging major roadways, so that we weren't able to take the shorter route from Longmont to Estes Park, nor were we able to do any mountain hiking.  And this week, the coldest temps on record in 15 years!  When we woke this morning, the actual temp was below zero...before the wind chill factor!!! 

 

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?  Have WE affected the weather?  Is Mama Nature pissed that we moved?  Or is she just testing our fortitude for living in this, usually, beautiful part of the country?

 

We KNOW this weather from Indiana....and we believed we were leaving it behind!

 

As I posted on my Facebook page, I want the sunshine, rainbows & unicorns I was promised!!!

 

When Chris left for work, I went out with him to start my car and clear off yesterday's snow. We only have access to a one-car garage here and since Chris is the only one working, he gets to park in it.  Let me say, I really miss the 2-car garage at the Ogden Dunes rental!!!  (For only one year in my life have I been able to park in a garage and it was a joy!)  We have remote start on our cars, so I started the car, reached in to turn the heat up to high, the rear defrost on and grab the scraper.  There were several inches of accumulation, but it was light and able to be just brushed off.  HOWEVER, it was only minutes before my fingers were tingling and super cold!!!  Yikes!!  During yesterday morning's Denver newscast, an outside reporter said he had purchased new gloves on Tuesday because he hadn't needed them in so long!  So, I don't think I will run out and buy below-zero worthy gloves, especially since we aren't skiers or snow boarders!!  I am remaining hopeful that this arctic blast, like the floods, is an anomaly that we won't see again during our time in SUNNY Colorado!  

 

The cabinet with our glasses & mugs is also where we store our coffees.  What an intoxicating aroma each & every time I open those doors.  Warming beverages are what keep me going on days like today.

 

That and the fact that I don't have to go outdoors unless I choose to do so! 

 

I have realized that I am most creative when I can see, hear and feel the outdoors.  In an effort to stay warm and save on energy costs, we covered our windows (all but one upstairs) and the sliding glass door with plastic on Sunday.  I can now only see the nature that exists outside my door.  I can no longer hear the birds or the neighbor's wind chime or feel the breeze (not that I would be opening the slider the past few days and for several to come, but you know what I mean, right?).  I feel I have to work a little harder to find the words and topics to share here.  I do have some ideas written in a journal and saved in a document on my computer that need some developing.  I know that if I focus I can hash out my thoughts.  I think I will mull them over while doing mundane chores today.  I find that complete sentences come to me when I am in the midst of something, when I don't have pen & paper handy!  Of course!!  When I am letting my unconscious mind have free reign.  At these times, I am always wishing I had a recorder to speak the words as they are forming because I just know I won't get it exactly the same when I get the chance to jot it down. 

 

I will take the time to enjoy our Christmas tree alight.  I will delight in the knowledge that my Christmas cards are all out (well, all but one for a special family) and that I don't have to shop.  I will do all of my indoor "chores" so that when the weather breaks, even a little, I am free to roam.  I will look thru our holiday DVDs and pick out one or two for us to watch tonite!!  I will plot our weekend to include the light parade in Boulder and a visit to Tattered Cover!!!!

Maybe I should take my own advice and make a snowman or, at least, toss a few snowballs in the air.

 

I will be thankful that I have a warm home on this bitterly cold day and hope that those who do not have found themselves a safe & warm place to shelter from this week's winter slap in the face.