Baby, It's COLD outside!

I'm hoping that the digital thermometer has gone on the fritz, but it really isn't very likely, given that the temperature displayed on the Liquid-Crystal Display matches the information given by the weatherman on TV.

Twenty point nine degrees. This was the temperature outside our door this morning, on the wind-protected porch, as the kids were going to school. Bundled up, you betcha. Cold enough to freeze the oil right off your skin.

We attended an Orchestra Concert last night at the High School, and since there was also a basketball game going on, parking was a bit limited, and we couldn't get anything near the door. So we had to walk about two hundred feet from the parking lot on the other side of the building. Being an idiot, I wasn't wearing my gloves. My hands were dried out like mummies and red as roses by the time we got into the building. Had to whap 'em a couple times against my side to get 'em to work right.

But I learned my lesson. Wore the gloves on the way back to the car after the concert. Then the only problem was having to take them off again to get the keys out of my pocket!!

The concert was a last-minute thing, at least for us. James, who plays clarinet in band, was pulled in to help out the Orchestra (the ones with the violins and cellos and basses) along with a dozen or so other Band geeks. We had to wait through the 6th grade and 7th grade and 8th grade performances, which wasn't bad, before James finally to up to play. But it was fun. Except for the freezing part.

The roads still have icy patches on them, and the Subaru's All-Wheel Drive doesn't help much in those situations, at least as far as turning and skidding are concerned. It's only helpful when starting from a dead stop. But it's still more fun to drive than the van.

This is what it feels like to be from Michigan: The other day, the temperature was finally above freezing - around 38 degrees - and everyone at the office was going out for a walk to enjoy the 'warm' weather!