weather

Reasons why winter is awful: part 760

/ Jo Redd / Leave a comment

I realize that this is a reoccurring blog post, but as long as I live in the midwest, that’s just a part of life. We are once again experiencing record low temperatures. Kids have to stay home, businesses are attempting to remain open while customers and patients refuse to go outside, and there is no good reason for going out in this weather.

Every year I say the same thing, “It isn’t so bad as long as it isn’t snowing.” Then, once it begins to snow, I can’t help but turn into a negative Nellie. I hate winter, I wish I could somehow convince my entire family to move somewhere where the weather doesn’t turn so harsh in the winter months, but I know that will never happen.

My grandparents used to vacation in Florida every winter, but they haven’t gone in years, and I wish we could make that a tradition in our family. I just want to be able to go outside without a million layers on; I don’t want to have to worry about frostbite; I want my son to get fresh air without his cheeks turning pink from the cold. I just want the weather to be excellent for everyone.

Life in the Midwest

/ Jo Redd / Leave a comment

We are always privy to videos like the one below whenever the snow shows up. Thankfully, this kind of snowstorm didn’t show up until halfway through January. This is a common occurrence, typically, early on in December.

Life in the midwest is impossible without a snowblower. A big snowblower. When there isn’t anything to catch the snow, it sure does pile up fast. The first big snow can be the last one if mother nature deems it so.

Winter can be over now

/ Jo Redd / Leave a comment

Yesterday the midwest was slammed with a major snowstorm, and the area where I reside was finally caught in the crosshairs. Roughly eleven inches of snow fell. Initially, the snow was heavy and wet, but just as the winds picked up last night, the snow became light and fluffy. It was beautiful to watch the snow yesterday. Most businesses were closed early, and so it was tranquil, even in the heart of town, and the snow wasn’t being blown about; it was just falling silently to the ground. I even managed to keep my car cleaned off yesterday afternoon.

Last night was a different story. Keeping up with shoveling was next to impossible due to the high winds, and the temps dropped rapidly. Going outside last night was awful, and I couldn’t stay warm for longer than a minute or two. At about 9 pm, I gave up and decided I wouldn’t be going outside again. Now my car is completely stuck. I am supposed to move it so someone can come to take the pile of snow away, but I don’t think that’s going to be possible today.

I feel trapped, I am currently experiencing cabin fever, and I am in an awful mood. I hate winter, and I’m ready for it to be done. Spring can show up any time now.

So Cold

/ Jo Redd / Leave a comment

The polar vortex is upon us and its giving me terrible cabin fever. The roads are dangerous because we keep getting snow squalls and with the low temperatures you can’t keep it from freezing, so I have been sticking to home. I’ve got plenty of books that I could be reading but I feel like I need to be going somewhere. I hate feeling like I am trapped, and I begin trying to make any excuse to leave.

Wind chills are -30 so I refuse to take my kid out in this, but that means we’ve had to come up with creative ideas to stay active in a very small space. We have a very cold entry room that we will occasionally bring a tub of snow into and I’ll let my child play with that for a while. He is very much into reading so we will spend a good chunk of the afternoon reading, and I recently signed up for this kid streaming service that is supposed to be more “wholesome” content. We’ve also started designing tents using different furniture pieces, a favorite of X’s. Those solar lanterns have come in handy for when he wants to “sit in the dark tent.”