Sorry, a little teeth-chattering going on here at Small Works, where January is in full swing in the fullest, most swinging Minnesota-ish sense of the word!
In fact, at International Falls this morning they set a new record, with a flat temperature of -37 (yes, that's MINUS thirty seven!) degrees.
And those kinds of bragging rights are about the only reason to live in International Falls that I can think of . . .
Mark Twain said,
"I would like to live in Manchester, England.
The transition between Manchester and death
would be unnoticeable."
"frozen over" type of hell.
As in,
"I'll move to International Falls when hell freezes over."
Only it has frozen over, apparently,
so I'm not sure that works after all.
Just about every January I say something like "I'll only be here next winter if pigs fly." Something just as meaningless and ridiculous as that. Yet here I am in 2010 with two shirts on as usual, looking for a new literary device that will more accurately reflect my feelings.
When in reality everything that makes my life meaningful is right here, wrapped up in a tidy ice cube. Perhaps that's why no one seems too bothered by my empty January threats.
I received a fortune-cookie fortune (for my collection) from a friend recently that said:
Good things come in invisible packages.
It didn't specify any package temperature at all; therefore I'm going to assume that frozen packages can be just as good as toasty ones.
Ice cream, for instance.
There's an object lesson.
So I suppose I should just settle down and run another hot bath.
And while I'm waiting to warm up:
My new slides have arrived from the photographer, so I plan to have something for show-and-tell next time we meet!
Until then,
I hope you're staying warm,
wherever you may be.
(And my apologies if it's Manchester or International Falls. Nothing personal.)
editorial note: since publication, it has come to our attention that Little Fork, MN, scored a whopping -39 degrees on their town thermometer today, making the cold in International Falls seem positively wimpy by comparison. The moral of this story is that we can ALL take heart! No matter where you are, there is always someplace worse to live. . . unless, of course, you live in Little Fork. Sorry, guys.
editorial note: since publication, it has come to our attention that Little Fork, MN, scored a whopping -39 degrees on their town thermometer today, making the cold in International Falls seem positively wimpy by comparison. The moral of this story is that we can ALL take heart! No matter where you are, there is always someplace worse to live. . . unless, of course, you live in Little Fork. Sorry, guys.
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9 comments:
It makes the phrase: "I think I'll move to Australia" all the more tempting. Because, although they may have terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days there as well...I doubt they have -37 OR -39 degree days.
I was thinking of you today, though, when I watched the weather report...Do your best to stay warm! :)
I think Mark Twain may have said, "The coldest winter I ever spent was June in Duluth." But then again he was never in Little Fork.
Keep warm!
Sitting here in sunny Southern California, eating the ripe mandarins from the tree in our backyard, I must confess it is very, very hard to even IMAGINE -37. You need to plan a visit to Paradise. (That would be here.)
- anything is just plain wrong. Humans are not supposed to live in temps like that.
That said I hope you and yours are keeping toasty warm. You really do not want to know the temps here in So. Cal.
I WANT to know, VO, but in the most personal way -- not from the weather channel or even my blog friends, but rather from stepping out on the terrace or having to turn the air conditioner on in my car on the way to get an ice cold diet coke. (Which I haven't given up, by the way -- addiction knows no season. I'll be piling on the layers to make a diet coke run in about an hour.)
Get into your car, fill the tank and drive south, turn right, oh, about St. George, UT and arrive in CA. Bring shorts. There are many places along the way to get diet coke.
Actually, I'm planning a trip to St. George for February and I'm counting the minutes! It won't be as warm as CA, but it will feel like heaven to me. If I can just hang on until then . . .
Susan, I ADORE your little shadowbox!!!!! I was talking to a friend Saturday, complaining about my 12 degrees, and she informed me that in Fargo that morning it had been -33. So I shut right up.
I need a winter home in FL....big enough for all my family and friends.....oh, and yes, Hell Michigan HAS frozen over. It's official.
Ahhhh, won't it be snowy in St. George in Feb? brrrrr.
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