The New Year...

...begins with cold and wind, here in northern New England. When I got up this morning it was -1 degrees; with the wind chill factor, -20. This was according to the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Weather Service. I listen to their reports every morning on the little weather radio Micheal got when he was working offshore, and wanted to stay abreast of weather conditions on the Gulf.

It’s now 12:45 in the afternoon, the sun is shining brightly, and it’s all of 8 degrees. Earlier, when I was lying in bed having my post-breakfast rest (preparing, and eating, pancakes, sausage, an egg, hot tea, and half an orange takes it out of you) I was listening to the wind, trying to decide what it sounded like. A low, steady roar, maybe like the traffic sounds people who live close to a busy, major highway grow accustomed to. Or a huge machine that runs all the time in the next building. No whistling, no howling. And it didn’t sound like the wind on Mull, which I would often listen to in the same way. That wind came in waves, off the sea, in deep thrumms. Thrumm...thrumm...thrummm.

I was very glad to be snug and warm in my little house. Admittedly, keeping warm, even indoors, involves wearing several layers of clothing, beginning with long johns, top and bottom. After all, you don't want the furnace running constantly! Am very glad I don’t have to go out today, having stocked up on food yesterday morning, on my way to work. It was supposed to snow later in the day, and I preferred not to have to stop off at the grocery in the middle of a snow storm. (In Maine so often ones activities are determined by the weather forecast.)

I just read that thirty minutes of shoveling snow burns 238 calories, the same as thirty minutes of high impact aerobics. Two weekends ago when we had our first major snowstorm, I spent close to an hour shoveling snow, with a thirty minute break in the middle because I felt spent (but the fellows I called to come finish the job for me hadn’t shown up, at the end of that half hour, and I’d gotten my wind back, so I went out and finished the job myself). It’s back-breaking work, especially given my current parking situation. More cars park in the little parking area in front of my house than was the case last year – more people living in the house next door than there were last year – so I have no place to put the snow. I have to walk each shovel-load either back to dump it in my yard, or across the street, to dump it on the piled-up snow over there. And this lady, as we all now know, is no spring chicken.

But hey, it’s burning as many calories as ice skating!