The Cold

It's cold here but luckily I have all kinds of gadgets to keep me warm. It's amazing how much technology can be involved.
-My technology: Dri-fit, micro-down, polar tec, hyVent, etc. [there seems to be a trend in favor of SPELLING THINGS WRONG]
-Their technology: sheep...cow...fox...etc.

I'm looking at my NorthFace jacket and it's crazy. There's a special little mesh pouch in the pockets for a hand warmer. Little graphic tags in the lining indicate which little pockets are for goggles, mp3 player, & cell phone.

If I choose to zip off the hood and leave one side of the zipper alone and exposed on the collar, a special little flap can extend to cover this unsightly thing. I'm looking at this jacket and finding things I never even knew existed on it! There's a zipper on the right forearm and- holy cow this jacket is like a treasure chest- out of the zippered compartment comes a little mini bungee with a detachable ring on the end holding a cloth for de-fogging goggles. That would have been nice to know on those especially precipitous days up in Tahoe. I check the other sleeve but no dice...just a sleeve, albeit it does have the obligatory under-arm zipper should some ventilation be in order.

So needless to say I'm braving the cold. But sometimes you just can't think of everything. It got down to -30C the other day and all kinds of things were freezing that shouldn't freeze. Like, my lip gloss. After making my way across the whole university and greeting my way through hoards of students eagerly following me with their "Hello Ms. Baldarelli!" 's, I finally made it to my office and glanced in the mirror by the door. A big scary ghost was looking back at me. Not only had my lip gloss frozen and turned completely opaque-white, but it had also smeared all over my face because I was all bundled up and breathing into a big wool scarf the whole way to the university. Kudos to all those students for not falling down laughing UNTIL I had left the room.

What I learned:
-Stick to the carmex until March
-Research is in order in the area of developing a lip gloss resistant to extreme temperatures. Would have been a great one for Bill Nye.

The upside is that the snow is gorgeous. The whole city is shiny and sparkly and old babushkas and papas pull their grandkids around on little sleds. The park is full of ice sculptures, and cross-country ski tracks can be seen on the sidewalks. I'm trying to hold on to this optimism about winter, because I'm told that it gets depressing for a lot of people. The word 'February' conjures dark, cold, lonely memories for a lot of volunteers I have talked to. But actually, I have a feeling that I'll remember this February quite fondly.