Cold Feet

Even though it's questionable what was on the end of his nose, Jiggers was sure a cute puppy. From the get-go, when he looked at me, the intelligence just poured out of him. He's very aware and vigilant.

Do you see that stuff on the ground? OK, I admit, the very first flakes falling to collect on whatever they fall on is one of those things that I love to see ... as long as it's gone the next day. In upstate NY, in an area known as "the armpit of America," the last winter I was there, it started snowing in October and kept snowing until April, and the snow never melted during that winter.

Since I grew up there, snow was just another one of those things that came with life. I had it down: Leggings under jeans, thermal socks in insulated riding boots, t-shirt under sweater under sweatshirt under jacket, two pairs of gloves and a scarf around my neck if I remembered it. All this took about 10 minutes to put on, just to go out to feed the horse. First the nose would freeze, sometimes freezing nose hairs together, then the feet would follow. Heading back into the house, I'd look at my watch only to see that I had been outside 10 minutes. And I thought I had it down. The bitch of it is, once my feet get cold, they won't warm up again until the spring. I'm never truly warm when my feet are cold, and it makes me truly bitchy.

That's the reason why I took the plunge, packed everything up and moved south. Arkansas is where the dart landed on the map, and I haven't looked back. It looks the same here with the rolling hills and how green it gets in the summer. Much of the flora and fauna is the same. It gets hotter in the summer, but not by a whole lot. The weather itself is just far more pleasant than it ever was in NY. Lots more sun; sometimes too much sun, if that's possible. The best thing is that the summer lasts from the end of March all the way up to December.

For the most part, the only cold month has been January. There are times when it's difficult to decide what to wear for the day. It may be cold in the morning, but it could be in the 60s by lunch. You could have the car heater on going to work, and the air conditioning on for the drive home. Hey, I'm not complaining! It beats having cold feet for half a year!

But, this year is starting out differently. Sure, it's December and it should be cold this time of year. My NY blood tells me that it's expected. Only, I'm in Arkansas now, and it's not supposed to be this cold. I'm sitting here with a tank top under a sweatshirt under another sweatshirt on! I haven't had socks on my feet in over two years and would rather not go digging through everything to try to find any. Even though it hasn't snowed at all for the last three years, I saw a few flakes last night. Brrr.

Jiggers isn't so fond of the cold anymore either. He will go outside long enough to do his business, then he's waiting at the door to go back inside. I'm right behind you, Jigs.

Right now, my feet are cold and I'm getting bitchy. Sorry, Odin. Your breakfast is postponed until it warms up!