Bitter......

      

 

It has been absolutely bitter cold here the past few days.  Highs have not reached the 20's and the lows... well they have been lower then me.  This morning it was -7 wind-chill.  I know a good portion of the country has been having frigid temperatures so you can understand what I mean, and have experienced the numbness the minute you hit the cold air.  Any exposed skin or membranes takes less then a few seconds to hurt and burn.  Your lungs sting from the icy air entering.  Nothing is wet, or moist but rather has the crunch of ice upon it.  I haven't seen much blue sky here these past few days.  I have to admit the graphic looks hauntingly familiar with the colors.  Even if the sky were blue, it would look like a cold blank canvas.   

I went out early this morning to take care of a few errands.  My eyes teared up the minute I was out the door.  The wind whipped through me and felt as though it touched my bones.  I unlocked my car door and it as I opened it, the squeak was loud and piercing.  Even the metal didn't want to move or be disrupted in these temps.  I got in and turned my key to a low rumbling grind.  It turned over and started right up, but I swear in the grind I heard, 'lady are you kidding me? You want me to move?'  I cranked the heat as I shivered and let the car warm up.  The windshield had ice crystals on the inside.  Bbbrrr!   There was no fresh snow and very little on the ground.  There were spots that had patches of snow/ice but nothing to speak of.  After my car warmed up, I put it in drive and could hear my tires crunch across those small ice patches as I pulled out of my drive.  There was very little traffic on the road.  Of course, who in their right mind would go out in this??  I was just amazed at the few cars that passed that didn't even take the time to let the ice clear away from their window.  Leaning to the left or right and squinting through the clearing is not my idea of driving safe.   

I got my errands done and after a quick grocery shop the snow started to fly, and boy did it fly.  I thought about doing the graphic in the same manner, but thought why bother, you'd never see the picture.  Visibility was about 0.  Big, light fluffy flakes falling at a speed of about 2 inches an hour and the wind blowing them in crazy directions around me.  I was driving in and out of the lake effect snow band.  As quick as it started it stopped, all the way home.  As I was coming closer to my house I was in one of those snow bands and almost missed my house.  I couldn't see anything.  I slowly pulled in the driveway, grabbed the few bags from my car and got in the house.  I was covered.  My hair was no longer dark brown but rather completely white.  Now white is not a bad thing mind you, but I pay good money for that 'bottle' and I surely want it to stay that pretty brown.  LOL  After that experience I stayed in the house and under a warm blanket.   

They are calling for lake effect on and off all evening with a chance of about 8 inches before morning and another 4-6 tomorrow during the day.  I've come to not believe the forecast and go with what I see when I look out the window.  With all that off and on lake effect today, we probably only got 2 inches.  It is still very cold out, about 1 degree as I write this.  Aaaahhh once it gets below 20 it's cold, no matter how low it goes.  Stay warm folks!