A "brutal" cold day
After so many days of idling, it’s time for me to check out my trail again now that everybody in the house has left after the Christmas gathering.
Chillingly cold…that I recognized.
Minus 12 on the thermometer on the window pane
Minus 6 inside the car in the garage
Minus 17 inside the car as I parked it before getting off on my walk
….and all these were before the windchill factor.
The trail….not as disastrous as I thought after the ice storm. The path….covered with thin pockets of snow on top of rugged ice. Trees snapped and fell…all over the park….some blocking the way not far from the entrance; another huge one just right in front of the bridge. I skirted around the first barricade but dared not step through the second one lest the bridge was not sturdy. Some good Samaritan was cutting some branches along the trail. Two Strong Country ladies were doing their morning walk!
I went slowly, half a step at a time. My head, my limbs and my body remained warm under the bundle of clothes. I wondered why ladies need to spend money on an Astringent Tonic to tighten their face pores. Here there was an abundance of them in the open chilling air.
I was musing merrily along when suddenly the wind came. It came head-on. That was brutal. The exposed area around my eyes (under the eyeglasses) hurt, not to mention my face. I had to close my eyes from time to time. That last quarter kilometer back to the parking lot was crucifying. My jaws did not freeze as I could still talk to myself.
To the library? No, I need to change my plan. I have to ensure my buddy car does not get sick and stall in the frigid temperature when I enjoy my reading inside. I have to be kind to it.
Any photos for the day? No too. I know my camera would freeze under this temperature. And, I have to be good to it also.
The weather was frigid but it was still mild compared to the minus 50 in Manitoba.
I am happy I made the trip. I was fully refreshed. A good start for a new year.