When weather outside is frightful

Brrrrrrrrr!!!!
I listened to the weatherman’s scientific explanation for the recent cold weather. I am glad he has it all figured out. All I know is that’s about the coldest I’ve seen, or at least in a long time. The whys and hows don’t matter when it’s upon you.
I feel very blessed and fortunate to have a warm house. Last week, I stepped outside during one the extreme cold nights just to see what it felt like. It’s not something we get to experience much, or could endure for long. I was amazed at the eerie stillness of the air. There was hardly a breeze blowing that I could tell. I felt engulfed in the tingly sting of the air surrounding me. It seemed to be like a needle sticking the skin as a skilled acupuncturist would do. I quickly jumped back inside, refusing any more of the prickly treatment.
I know many in the area had trouble with their heat pumps and trouble with pipes freezing. Many even experienced pipes bursting. Those conditions are no fun. Many don’t like winter and start longing for the warmer weather months before its arrival. I must say that the older I get, the more I enjoy this time of year. I love the coziness of home and the excused privilege of being able to come home and rest with no yard work demands. I can’t squeeze in those moments in the summer without feeling guilty and without getting behind.
I do recall many winters as a child that I considered fun. It was always wonderful to listen for the magic words on the radio that school was dismissed. I lived on Spivey for most of my life and if anyone in the county was going to get snow, we were. And we did. Before one snowfall would melt, another one would fall. It could be weeks before things would thaw enough to get back down to a visible layer of Mother Earth. By then, she was all muddy, with lumpy sod that had spewed up like tiny revolting volcanoes. I always heard that it was good for the ground, especially gardens for such harshness to freeze it out.

For the remainder of this article please see the 1/15/14 edition of The Erwin Record.