Saturday, February 7, 2015

Baby, It's Cold!

Apologies to our readers that it has been over a month since we shared an adventure!

Winter has put a bit of a hitch in our get along . . . the cold has been cramping our carpe diem spirit!  There have been many, many days in the single digits, and the howling winds make it unbearable to be outside for more than a few minutes.  Quite a few days have also started out--or ended up--looking something like this!



Truthfully, we have been hunkered down, conserving our energy and trying not to freeze to death as we make our appointed rounds to work and school.

Last winter in Dundee was definitely cold.  Seems like early last winter there was a week or so that the temps never got above a 8 degrees. You remember these things when you have outdoor livestock and have to cart hot water outside several times a day so you can break the two inch crust on their watering trough.  I also remember it well because we were literally snuggling with our lambs underneath blankets and heat lamps in the barn trying to keep them alive in the extreme cold.

I gotta say, though, an East Coast winter is definitely colder!  It is SO COLD outside that Owen's bandana that he wipes his face with FROZE on one of our more foolhardy adventures a few weeks ago.


The siren song of a bright blue sky day lured us outside, and we found ourselves at Arlington National Cemetery.  It was about 21 degrees out that day, but much colder with the wind chill.  We had only been outside for about 5 minutes and had just started up the hill at the cemetery when we noticed that Owen's wet bandana was frozen solid!  Needless to say, we cut our outing short but stayed long enough to pay our respects at John F. Kennedy's grave and see the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier.


It was hard not to notice that the soldier on duty out in the cold had a runny nose.  He had a thick patch of mucous running from his nose to his upper lip that had frozen to his face.  You gotta admire that he was so singularly focused and dedicated to his task that he didn't break form to wipe his face.  Bless him that he cared more about duty, honor and respect than he did about personal comfort and vanity.    


Once we had warmed up sufficiently in the car, we also made a very quick stop by the U.S. Marine Corp War Memorial (Iwo Jima).  Awesome to see up close and in person!  We'll definitely be back when winter is over.  



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