SoCS — Battling the Elements!

Badge by: Doobster @ Mindful Digressions

 

This post is part of Linda G Hill’s “Stream of Consciousness Saturday”  — Come join in! It’s super fun!

 

Battling the elements — This week has been brutally cold. With a little snow, too. I had to go to work, which for me includes walking a half mile from the parking lot to my “office.”  So “battling the elements” came to my mind when I saw the prompt.

Thursday morning, Denver hit a record low of -14F (that is -25C for my metric friends!) That is the coldest November temperature since 1880 !  On Wednesday, the high temperature was 6F (-14C) which was the coldest daytime high temperature ever recorded on Nov 12. Cars don’t like these temperatures. Airplanes don’t like them, and I can tell you with 100% certainty that pilots don’t like them! It was cold in Colorado. It was cold in Chicago, it was cold in South Dakota. It wasn’t too bad in Palm Springs, oddly enough 🙂 But all that aside, the absolute worst part for me was the walk from my car to the airport on Wednesday. Tonight it was downright balmy, only 28F (-2C). I almost forgot my scarf. Just kidding. Brrrr!

I have now focused my attention on trying to avoid all trips which go through Chicago and/or Denver during the month of December, in hopes of avoiding some of these “elemental” battles. Why these two only? Well, dear readers, when it comes to element-battling in the winter, Preparation and Planning are the key.  Am I telling you that I consider these two airports to be poorly prepared and or planned? Would I advise avoiding them in the winter? Of course I would never say that “out loud.” But allow me to say instead that Denver seems to be under the impression that it lives in Florida during the winter and is therefore “surprised” when it snows. Chicago isn’t surprised, it just doesn’t care about silly things like being efficient. But then again, that “devil-may-care” attitude is just part of the Chicago charm…right? Riiiiight. On another note, I would like to congratulate our Canadian neighbors on their winter-preparedness-and-planning. I have never seen an aircraft de-icing operation which runs as smoothly as the one at the Toronto airport. It glides like it’s on skates, and for all I know, maybe they are. All I can say is, nobody deals with ice as well as Canada. And they are super polite, too. Thanks, Canada. Love you guys!

As much as I love to avoid Winter while I am at work, I will admit that I adore winter as seen from my window, sitting next to my fire, and sipping…well, any hot beverage can be inserted here, but top billing this year goes to…Nespresso!! (Bet you didn’t see that one coming 😉 ) After that, in order of deliciousness, goes Celestial Seasonings “Sweet Harvest Pumpkin” tea, Hot spiced apple cider from Whole Foods, and a nice dark hot chocolate.  Actually, I adore the hot chocolate but abhor drinking calories. While having my hot beverage of choice, I like to be reading or writing.  So the elements of a pleasant winter day off? Snow, hot beverage, fireplace, big sweater, cozy socks, lovely music, notebooks, pens, and books.

The other place I love Winter is in the kitchen. I love cooking, but especially those winter spices that make the whole house smell like Christmas. Gingerbread, Apple pies, Pumpkin pies, Cranberry sauce, Bizcochitos (the State cookie of New Mexico, for those of you who don’t know…delicious), Pork Green Chile, Red chili, Butternut squash soup, Beef stew…

So…how do you battle the elements? What is your favorite season? Is your city prepared for winter?