Winter Update
Our adventure of Idaho winter continues. There's a solid layer of ice on all the non-main roads that has hardened to the point that no amount of traffic can weather it away. Things are hunkered down waiting another couple months for some semblance of spring.
One of the funniest things is the road leading out of our neighborhood. The layer of ice there is about 4 inches thick, with tire ruts on both sides of the street that actually reach the pavement. So you have traction there but can't help but feel that the car will get high centered on the ice.
The ruts, however, seem to have been formed by some of the many large trucks that abound in this habitat. My little commuter car isn't quite wide enough to comfortably fit on those ruts. As a consequence, I bounce back and forth in a way that reminds me of a car on rails at an amusement park. If you try to turn farther than the rail allows, you bounce back rather abruptly. It somehow makes me think of people crossing the plains in wagons, following the tracks made by those who went before.
We had a few days when it got down to -15 or -20 Fahrenheit. Our house had condensation freezing on the inside of the windows. I began to rethink the placement of our bed, right under the window, since it's considerably colder right there. Lessons for next winter, I suppose.
Running outdoors is something of an adventure as well. I didn't get out on those coldest days, but I've been out when it's been a little better, maybe a few degrees below zero. A couple years ago I purchased overshoes that have little steel studs on them for running on ice. I didn't have many chances to use them in Utah, but I use them all the time here. It's been good, but one day when it was below zero and the wind was blowing I realized I need to layer more if I don't want to freeze. My whole body felt numb by the time I got home after ten miles.
Still, we're happy here, and oddly the air still doesn't feel as dry as it did in Utah. Katie gets cracked and bleeding hands in the winter, but it hasn't been as bad. The kids have plenty of snow to play in (or did before it started sublimating and hardening). The cabin fever hasn't been too bad, but maybe a few more weeks of this will change things.
End.
One of the funniest things is the road leading out of our neighborhood. The layer of ice there is about 4 inches thick, with tire ruts on both sides of the street that actually reach the pavement. So you have traction there but can't help but feel that the car will get high centered on the ice.
The ruts, however, seem to have been formed by some of the many large trucks that abound in this habitat. My little commuter car isn't quite wide enough to comfortably fit on those ruts. As a consequence, I bounce back and forth in a way that reminds me of a car on rails at an amusement park. If you try to turn farther than the rail allows, you bounce back rather abruptly. It somehow makes me think of people crossing the plains in wagons, following the tracks made by those who went before.
We had a few days when it got down to -15 or -20 Fahrenheit. Our house had condensation freezing on the inside of the windows. I began to rethink the placement of our bed, right under the window, since it's considerably colder right there. Lessons for next winter, I suppose.
Running outdoors is something of an adventure as well. I didn't get out on those coldest days, but I've been out when it's been a little better, maybe a few degrees below zero. A couple years ago I purchased overshoes that have little steel studs on them for running on ice. I didn't have many chances to use them in Utah, but I use them all the time here. It's been good, but one day when it was below zero and the wind was blowing I realized I need to layer more if I don't want to freeze. My whole body felt numb by the time I got home after ten miles.
Still, we're happy here, and oddly the air still doesn't feel as dry as it did in Utah. Katie gets cracked and bleeding hands in the winter, but it hasn't been as bad. The kids have plenty of snow to play in (or did before it started sublimating and hardening). The cabin fever hasn't been too bad, but maybe a few more weeks of this will change things.
End.
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