ramblings

It was a cold day here at the Suburban Ranch today. I know my family and friends in the Midwest will roll their eyes and throw some snowballs at me, but honestly, we did have a hard freeze last night and another is expected tonight. It doesn't matter what the outdoor temperature is as long as I am snugly warm inside. But that takes some effort. Seems our heat pump isn't designed to operate when it is freezing cold outside, only in moderate cold. So once the temps plummet below the 32* mark, the heat pump "conditions the air," as in, an air conditions. Which is really to say, it just blows cold and we turn it off. But if we close the vents in the unused rooms (guest room) or occasionally visited rooms (bathrooms) and shut all of the doors around the family room and turn on two or three space heaters, it can get rather toasty. And that is good enough for me.

On the cold days, particularily on the rare ones that we get a bit of snow or ice and huddle around a vat of chili or a pot of hot soup, the children love to hear me tell about my childhood frolics in the winters of Wisconsin. The backyard of my home was encased with a privacy fence that had been built by my father. In the winters when there was a substantial accumulation of snow combined with a forceful wind, the snow would form drifts nearly as tall as the six foot fence, leaving a tunnel-like gap of a couple of feet between the snow and fence. The neighbor children would come over and we would dig igloos into the snow drifts with a complex system of communication tunnels connecting the little frozen caves.

After we had these retreats built, we would run out to the front yard to build forts and engage in fierce snowball fighting and other typical snow fun. When we got to cold, instead of heading in to the house to strip down all of the snow suits, moon boots stuffed with plastic bread bags, ski masks, gloves, and scarves, we would dive into our igloos for a quick warm-up. Once warmed, it was back out to the snow we went. Such fun.

~~~~~~~~~~

We had our first dance with 20007-'08 winter illness here when Firstborn was bitten by a stomach bug last night. Even when he's sick, this boy cannot be kept indoors. Like his farming grandpa, Firstborn needs bits of fresh outdoor air several times a day. So even though it was a cold day and he was really laying low, I caught him outside early this morning--barefooted! He insisted that he just needed some fresh air. Fine, but your feet don't need fresh air! Everyone went outside this afternoon to load up on vitamin D and fresh air. And so far, no signs of the stomach bug biting anyone else.

Hoping now that everyone will be feeling well for the Big Game tomorrow. Man, now Green Bay, that is where it is cold. I'll be glad to watch that game from my toasty warm family room and leave bench space at the storied Lambeau Field available for those absolutely crazy fans. We don't own cheeseheads, but let there not be any doubt that we are Packer Backers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It is late. Everyone is sound asleep. The Prof had a big day, presenting at an organ conference about the piano music of Olivier Messiaen and fell to sleep early with Little Queen snuggled up close. Firstborn also fell asleep early and, I hope, will awaken fully recovered and with a big appetite. The girls stayed up a bit late after talking me into putting rollers in their hair. And now they sleep on lumpy heads with content little smiles on their faces.

And I will be off to bed soon...pleased with Ron Paul's second place finish in Nevada today and with this song going through my head from the Irish indie modern day musical-movie, Once. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. Other than the liberal "European use" of the f-bomb, this a brilliant story about loyalty, purity and honor. See it! (One word of advice, though, use the English subtitles)




ETA: Just stayed up a bit too late to update that week of dinner menus in the sidebar at long last.