10

Not talking about the Dudley Moore movie in the late '70s-early '80s. Talking about the temperature when I took Jeb the Wonder Dog out tonight after I got home from work. Maryland isn't supposed to be this cold. Neither is my face.

Apparently, I have been caught in an historical inaccuracy

A reader has informed me that Robert Scott, a prominent polar explorer at the beginning of the 20th century, did not die in a snow drift, despite my comparisons to the contrary. I suppose I should have compared myself to Ernest Shackleton, another polar explorer of the time. He survived, after all. Just thought I'd throw that out there. And, yeah, look him up. Worth reading about.

I did not sign up for Ice Station Zebra

Hell, I didn't sign up for Ice Station Gazelle, either, but here I am, apparently. The high today was about 17 degrees F. When I walked the dogs a few minutes ago (two trips, one for each dog, don't ask why) it was 14 F, with a windchill of -7. Did I mention it is really windy? The low tonight, probably right about the time I walk Jeb the Wonder Dog -- who cares fuck-all about cold, apparently -- is supposed to be -2. I don't even know what the windchill is supposed to be. I don't want to know.

Good news, though -- the high tomorrow is supposed to be 23 F. Fucking heat wave. I realize that many, many places are much colder, but I didn't move to those places for a reason. This is as far north as I have ever lived, and farther north than I ever actually wanted to live. I really, truly am not enjoying this. Jeb's apparent imperviousness to temperature does not make me happier. I feel like he should suffer, too.

I'm detecting a pattern here

The pattern is, it seems to snow every damn week at least once. Maybe not a lot, at least not every time, but often. Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, it did it again. This time, it was just a dusting. At 5:30 Wednesday morning, I took Jeb the Wonder Dog out to pee and found that about 1/4 inch of snow had fallen sometime during the night.

Because the temperature hasn't been above freezing for about two weeks, still lots of snow from previous snowfalls still on the ground. Jeb the Wonder Dog, of course, doesn't mind snow as he has a nice fur coat:

I'll try to get a picture next time, but when I am working outside in the snow and Jeb is with me, he cheerfully lies down in the snow to wait as if he were indoors on a nice, warm sofa.

While we were out walking, Jeb the Wonder Dog and I saw deer tracks on the sidewalk. So good to be close to nature, especially when nature is civilized enough to use the sidewalk:

Granted, this was a trivial snowfall, but apparently it is snowing a lot this winter all over the country. A reader sent me this picture, and I wanted to give credit to the website that originally posted it. Unfortunately, a Google search (for images) will tell you that a whole bunch of churches have put up similar signs:

Doesn't make it any less hilarious.

Sweet baby Jesus, it's cold outside

I just walked Jeb the Wonder Dog. He's got this big, thick coat and apparently doesn't give a damn about the cold. I took him out a few minutes ago. According to the Weather Channel, it is 12 degrees outside here, with a windchill of -9. It feels like it. I was out there for about 15 minutes, and I thought I would die. And I was pretty seriously bundled up -- heavy coat, sweatshirt, heavy shirt, hat, scarf, heavy socks, boots. Mistake? No long johns, and all of the rest wasn't enough. God, it was awful.