Brrrrr......

The cold front came through last night and dropped the temperatures down close to freezing.  I realize this is nothing compared to the horrendously cold temps happening right now across the northern and midwestern parts of this country.  We never get down to wind chills of 40 below with gale force winds and lots of snow.  A little ice on the roads is enough to stop everything down here and it doesn't happen often enough for people to learn how to cope with it.  Not to mention we don't have any snow plows close to us - Dallas is just under 300 miles, Lubbock is about 500 miles and Amarillo is 600 miles away.  At this point I'm sure all those cities are getting great use out of their plows.  Dallas only got their first snow plow 5 years ago and they have lots of snow and ice compared to us.  Snow plows are expensive.  The two new ones that Lubbock just bought cost just shy of $170,000 each.  Yikes!

Given that our current temperatures are only really cold to those of us who live mostly in the heat in this part of the country, how are we dealing with it?  I decided last night that I wouldn't go out to feed until I saw the animals out and about.  No sense disturbing them when they where hunkered down in their shelters. Ha! They were all out and about way before I was.  I looked out the window before I even got dressed and they were all distributed up the pasture, mostly curled up on the ground with their legs tucked in munching on what of the green grass was within reach.  They all scampered up to be fed with no hesitation or look of concern.  I think they appreciate not sweating for a time just like I do.

Here is my very first selfie ever.  In general I don't think pictures of me are all that informative but this is what I looked like when I walked out the door this morning.

Note the qiviet hat and scarf.  The hat I bought in Banff, Canada some years back and the scarf I spun and knitted.  I'm also wearing long johns under my jeans, a silk undershirt, my one and only remaining stand up turtle neck t-shirt, a heavy woolen sweater and my parka to stop the wind.  Add to that wool socks under my insulated muck boots and lined leather gloves and I'm ready for the cold and wind!  And I really was.  I felt comfortable and toasty warm.

There is still some wind this morning but nothing like it was howling last night.  The sun continues to break through the clouds occationally to brighten the otherwise dreary day.  And I think the temperature is rising, if very very slowly compared to the speed with which it dropped last night.

My friend Barb lives in the Chicago area and this morning she sent me a picture of the front of her house after she worked hard to get all the snow shoveled from her driveway and front walk.  It puts my cold start this morning into perspective. I have one sister who lives in western Colorado...

and another who lives north of Detroit, Michigan...

and both would agree that my cold is nothing like the magnitude of their cold. Obviously they are correct.  Except for the fact that they have winter clothes and we really don't have them here.  I remember fondly having fur lined boots and heavy coats, down jackets and lots of wool.  Having lived in this part of Texas for 30 years I don't have much of that kind of clothing left so it's more of a stretch for me to dress for this cold.  I have a couple of sweaters only because I won't part with them.  The long johns are very old, the turtle neck already has holes in it. If I hadn't bought insulated muck boots because of the heat in the summer, my feet would be freezing right now.

Stay warm while this cold lasts!  We are supposed to get highs in the 50's and 60's the rest of this week.  We will all be happier with that.