Horsie, it's Cold Outside

When Allah created the horse, he said to the wind, "I will that a creature proceed from thee. Condense thyself!" And the wind condensed itself, and the result was the horse.

I am so, so thankful that I am not a horse.

And clearly, when Allah had this chat with the wind, he had not bothered to check on exactly what it was up to a little closer to the Arctic circle. If he had, he would not have wanted to make a creature out of it. Maybe a military force, but nothing that could reproduce on its own.

I don't know. I get the impression that Allah is a little more cranky than Adonai God. Maybe these winter winds were exactly what he was thinking of when he created the Gypsies' Gold.

That first line was the statement my mind came up with today as I was leaving church. On my way home, depending on which road I take, I either pass horses and longhorns; or ponies, sheep, and longhorns (in finer weather, there are a few peacocks on that road. Don't ask me.)

And I admire horses. The majority of them are very pretty. They can be fairly intelligent (they can also be on a level with sheep when they get scared or take some foolish idea into their heads). They're strong, and graceful, and warm, and big, and all sorts of good things.

But I am very glad not to be one. Because the majority of them are still outside right now.

It. Is. Cold. It is very cold. It is somewhere between 10 and 15 below (F), so it shouldn't FEEL that cold, but the reason that nobody knows exactly what the temperature is is because nobody can stand still outdoors long enough to read a thermometer. Gotta keep moving. Really really cold. There's some wind, yeah, but I really can't figure out WHY it feels this cold, if it's not more than 20 below.

This is probably the point where K makes some observation about the fact that I'm at a significantly higher elevation than what I'm accustomed to for winter, and how that affects things.

It's very pretty, though. Beautiful sunny-cold day. You want to be out there sledding...until you actually get out the door, and then, nope, you want to head right back inside. Build a fire. Make goodies. Wrap up in a blanket, have a cup of cocoa, watch a good movie with your sweetheart. All excellent suggestions.

One of my good friends here is from Montana, so we were comparing a bit.

"There are different types of cold. We're Great-Lakes cold. Evidently (it's been explained to me by other Minnesotans who've moved here) this is very different than Mountain Cold. Or at least, Rockies-Cold. Appalachians just think they have a handle on winter. We laugh. Appalachians have some good snowstorms, but for the most part they have pretty go-play-in-it winter
"Great-Lakes cold takes effect over the months. Your first snow is in October, November, but it doesn't REALLY start to get to you until January. It's been spending all this time gradually seeping into you, seeping deep into your core, and taking up residence in your bones. It's bone-deep cold - it lives in there and radiates out through the muscle tissue.
"This is why we Minnesota women have instinctive lists on ways to keep our menfolk warm out there."

And we do. I can't explain it, but as soon as the weather starts getting fun, I start making sure that everybody's dressed warm, I feel compelled to bake, and I have to remind myself that, since I'm not married, I have to find more creative ways than the obvious to make my guy warm.

It should be noted that, a) this hasn't hit as hard in past years as it is now, and b) the absence of my guy doesn't seem to have any effect on the mindset. I can't shake the feeling that he's just out at work or shoveling snow or something else, he'll be in in a little while, and I want to have warm ready for him.

Which is also interesting, as I happen to think of shoveling snow as one of my chores. Er, no, that's not entirely correct. Mowing the lawn is mine. Shoveling is something you do together, like my sisters and I or me and my Dad or all four of us - there's interaction, fellow griping, playing around. Work gets done a lot quicker, you're less tired because you've had people to play with, and you all come stamping in around the same time.

I've also had an entertaining discussion about what I do as a Christmas elf. It involves under what circumstances elves beat ninjas. I may have to share that with y'all at a later date.

For now, I'm trying VERY hard not to go bake cookies (I need 'em for Friday, if I make them now, there probably won't be enough then).