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| Just me, reacting to January In General |
Northeast Ohio has remembered Who It Is, geographically speaking, and we are back in the Frozen Tundra of a real winter instead of the El Nino Sissy Winters we'd been having. Temperatures have been in the 20s, and I feel like I haven't seen grass in aeons. I don't even bother chasing squirrels away from my feeders because I feel so sorry for them (but aren't they supposed to be hibernating or eating all that stuff they stashed away in the fall?). Little sparrows sit all puffed up and miserable in my barberry bush whilst my fat and lazy cats, all warm and comfy, stare at them from the back of the couch.
It's too snowy and icy for me to take my walk. We shovel our sidewalk, but we are in the distinct minority in our neighbourhood. This morning I watched in horror as the skinny guy across the street fell hard on his back as he cleared his driveway. He tried so valiantly not to fall, but it was hopeless. He scrambled to his feet quickly and resumed his labours. I was shocked. This man is so terribly thin and frail-looking that I expected him to literally break apart. He finished up with no further incident except a few slippery missteps.
I went out an hour or so later to shovel out our driveway and sidewalks. Rick had used the snowblower a few days ago for the worst of it, so I didn't have but a light coating to dispatch. I hate how the snowblower makes our driveway look; it doesn't scrape down to the bare concrete, so it's not nice and neat and clean. I want my driveway to be the envy of the entire street. Because I...need a real hobby?
Anyway, it was good to be outside a bit and be active even though the wind hurt my face and my thumbs froze. I calculated whether or not it was worth it to try and take a short walk in my snowboots, but decided against it. Not worth the risk.
We're not warming up anytime soon. I might have to go to our now defunct mall and walk there. I'm not excited about that. It's depressing, and it sort of gives me the creeps. Still, it's better than nothing, and I'm really feeling the need to walk briskly and get moving. And be Outside.
It's befuddling to me, always, when I hear people say they love winter and love snow. I've lived in northeast Ohio all my life, and I've hated snow and winter all my life. Even as a kid, I dreaded wintertime. Snow is such a barrier and an inconvenience. It makes everything harder.
(It even made getting my hair cut harder. On Friday we drove through bands of snow and almost zero visibility. Rick, however, is intrepid. I got my hair shampooed, cut, styled/blowdried, and with a Happy New Year tip, I dropped 25 bucks at Susie's: "Nance, are you sure? Wow! Thank you very much!" Susie is the gift that keeps on giving.)
Lots of winter remains. My SAD light has been deployed and so has my snow shovel. What I really need is a January thaw so that I can deploy my walking shoes, too.
