Freakin' Cold Runnings

I know I have been neglecting you, I am a horrible blog mother. The only real "excuse" I have is that I haven't been doing much. I finished up my thesis, went to visit some family in New Jersey, and went to the Art Basel fair in Miami. I suppose any of these things could have been blogged about, but I have become horrible at taking pictures and figuring out what is worthy to post, so I apologize. However since it is the season to be giving I have not come to this post empty handed. Sadly, I did not get you all that luxury car you have been lusting after, or the blueray player, or the Jimmy Choo's, but what I did get you is a new blog format.

I realize that if I use my Amelia adventures as the benchmark of whether to post or not, I will never post again. I mean Amelia is like when Dorothy woke up in Oz in pure technicolor glory, and now that I am back in black and white on the farm how can it ever compare? So, I have decided to share with you some of the random thoughts that come in my head to see what you all have to say about them. I encourage participation (and if you are anything like my students, by saying this I have just cut participation down to about 2% of people) so please feel free to post your ideas too.

So yes, my Christmas gift to all of you is a peek into my mind and the odd things that run around inside there. :-)

Having spent some time in the North recently (where all of my friends and family could see what a wimp I am when it comes to cold weather) I understand that there are a lot of things about cold weather that I just don't understand. I don't understand how to dress warm. In Florida you can buy sweaters, sure you can! However, the purpose of the sweaters you can buy here is fashion, plain and simple, not warmth. So I get very confused when trying to amend my Florida wardrobe for Northern temperatures. I know, LAYER, and believe me I do, but it is still a trifle hard to pack within the 50lb limit and bring everything I need to layer.

Moving on. This is not something I don't understand, but something I do find worth noting, the igloos in all towns near the major highways that have salt in them. I know you need to have salt to de-ice the roads, but igloos of salt look weird to me, the out of town guest. I always wonder if there is a equivalent to the igloos in Florida... is there something that doesn't even make it on my radar that you guys would say, hey screw our igloos you guys have __________? I wonder.

Next, how do you stop your nose from running? ALL THE TIME!?!!?! And more importantly why does the nose start running when it is cold, when you are outside with gloves on, and when you really can't find a lady-like way of holding a tissue because you have gloves on and they aren't allowing you the typical dexterity you enjoy without gloves???

I could go on for days, but I will stop here and try to focus on why I started this rant. Again, I know there are a lot of things about cold weather that I just don't get, but can anyone explain to me why there is always a lone jogger whenever pictures of record snowfalls are recorded?? I would like to direct your attention to the photo above. That was taken this morning in Wisconsin and smack dab in the middle of the photo is a jogger. What are they thinking? Is this some kind of extreme sport I don't know about? Do news trucks employ joggers to make their snowy photos more interesting? And more importantly how does one jog in temperatures like that? My throat starts to burn when it gets in the 50's.

Maybe it's something I don't understand at all... maybe because you can't drive until they plow the roads this person is merely trying to be a good employee and get to work? Maybe they are training for a triathlon in the arctic circle?

So there you have it, the first peek into the mind of Katie, I'd like to welcome you and ask that you keep your hands to yourself and don't touch anything, we don't know how stable this brain of mine is. :-)