Friday, January 4, 2013

Mighty cold

Last night Alamosa, CO had the distinction of being the coldest place in the nation. This isn't a huge surprise. It happens every year. Still, the fact of the cold is shocking. When we beat out Fairbanks, Alaska and Bismarck, North Dakota, I know it is cold. Minus 33 degrees to be exact. I am still completely amazed my car started at 7:30 this morning. It took a few tries. She was really cranky when I let the clutch out but on the third try she kept running. After 20 minutes of letting her warm up, there was ice on the inside of the windows and no melting at all of the 1/4 inch of ice on the outside of the windshield. Though I parked in the sunshine at work, when I went out to eat my lunch at noon, it was frozen in my lunch bag.

The cold makes me hold myself tight to my bones.
It doesn't let me fly free. It makes me clench against the pressure of it.
This is hunching in your coat cold.
Dog won't walk on the snow because it hurts her feet cold.
I don't care if my hair gets messed up, I'm wearing a hat cold.


Our house is an old farmhouse outside of Alamosa a few miles. It still has single pane windows (which you might remember I complained about being painted shut in the summer...) and no insulation in the floor. My laundry room which is also the storage room, coat room, mud room, and entryway to the house as the real front door is broken, was below freezing yesterday evening. The door hinges scream when you open the door because they are iced together. Needless to say the washer is frozen.


The cold is insidious, insistent, and a little frightening.
The neighbor's sheep, in all their pounds of wooly glory, are huddled together en masse against it.
And that is saying something.

8 comments:

  1. I agree that being that cold is just a bit beyond bearable. We are supposed to warm up to almost 30 degrees today, so I have saved all this week's errands to do in the balmy warmth of today's sun. I guess winter is what makes spring so glorious when it finally comes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah ... real cold is something sometimes frightening but your photos are so beautiful! It's balmy where I live only 17 F and going up to the mid 2o's. Fortunately not a cloud in the sky. A good day to sit in a sunny window and weave!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Trish at Tangled ThreadsJanuary 5, 2013 at 2:28 PM

    Rebecca - it sounds painful! BTW, I love your new photos but am wondering if you are planning to update the one by your profile? Lots of interesting posts lately, but I have not commented for a while. I like the video clips and the idea of a newsletter. Happy New Year to you and all those you hold dear.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I keep looking at that profile photo and thinking I should update it. I like it somehow. Probably because it reminds me of all the backpacking I love to do and haven't had time for in the last couple years. I will update it one day soon. I'm working on more video, though some of it will be for online teaching. It isn't hard, but I have along way to go to make them more professional.

      Delete
  4. That sounds absolutely miserable! I complain when our high is in the 40s which I'm sure you would love right now.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thankfully it was only -3 this morning. We're having a heat wave. The dog will be so happy to get a middle of the day walk. This is the time I really wish I had a treadmill... about 8 weeks in the dark of winter... -20 degrees is too cold for outdoor exercise for me at least.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sending you a warm hug for 2013 & thanking you for verbalizing the stark reality of living where it gets cold... really cold. Dennis occasionally has pipe dreams of moving to places that are beautiful but just happen to have cold winters, which at times, like in the middle of a desert summer, sound tempting. Yet, even though I spent part of my childhood in upstate NY, I have been in southern climates far too long to even begin to think I could survive anywhere that gets colder than Tucson. Even though my French-Canadian ancestors are all rolling in their graves, I thank you, Rebecca, for the cold slap of reality. Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Many years ago I remember it being -26 in Denver; it was kind of surreal driving around in it (yes, my trusty Volvo did start - somehow!).

    I found your blog via Franco Rios's; I'm glad I did, your pics are gorgeous. I am on an extended stay on the East Coast now and really miss Colorado; it was nice to at least be able to look at it.

    ReplyDelete

This blog has been moved to www.rebeccamezoff.com/blog. Please visit there to comment.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.