Thursday, January 7, 2010

Baby it's cold outside

Holy cow.  San Antonio is under deep freeze.  I thought I moved down here to escape this.  If I had the money, I think I would move to Monterrey, MX tomorrow, because I am clearly not far enough South.  Brrrr.

So, after work, I elected to run by myself in the cold and wind, while the sun was at least still shining.  Mind you, I have nothing warm in which to run and had to hunt for an ear-cover-thingy.  Windchill was around 16-20 (yes, I know this is nothing where I grew up, but I put in Summer runs at 105 degrees to avoid this- that's supposed to be my agreement with Mother Nature!).  Anyway, I just did an out-and-back to the community garden, picked some parsley and chard for dinner, and headed back.

Then, I started having to cover plants, wrap pipes, put faucets on drip, etc.  Normally, I have not bothered, since any freeze lasts for less than an hour this close to downtown.  However, they are predicting three days of sustained freezing temperatures.  No big deal, you Northeners say?  Well, I would give a good French laugh (Gwafahaha), as well, because my 85 y/o house is built on stilts, not insulated, and welcome for a pipe freeze, which would royally suck.  And I own this shack, so I'm already entering plumbers' numbers into speeddial.  Dang. This was easier when I rented.

I would just stuff critters in the crawlspace for insulation, but that could be mean.  Actually, they are mostly hanging out in/around the bed, waiting for me to turn up the thermostat.  With the exception of one Dingo dog (who is laying on her bed, knowing she was bad).  When I returned from my brief run, I threw the produce in water, checked the backyard for stray cats, and let the dogs out.  Apparently, after awhile, there was a cat hanging out on my adjacent neighbor's overhead tarp.  Dingo climbed the chain link fence, leapt, and chased the cat over my neighbor's roof.  And back.   And forth.  The cat jumped down (Dingo only chases, doesn't hurt), so the cat got away, and Dingo jumped back in my yard.  But, I can't imagine what the heck the neighbors thought was happening when the 65 pound baddog ran across their cottage roof.  I didn't stick around outside to find out.

I cannot wait for it to become warm again.

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