Snow and Cold!

Day 43. Major events of the day: Waiting Period day 14 of 15 (Only 1 more to go!), Snow, Pictures and Shopping.

Morning weather report: 29, feels like 22. Projected high: 29 with falling temperatures and a dusting of snow!
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 32 (Freeze warning in effect!), and heading back to a high of 55 (sounds more like the end of lawn mowing season for those Bermuda grass lawns!)

Another cold morning, this time with a light dusting of snow. It’s coming down in a fine powder, covering everything in a thin layer of white. Definitely a good day for a very brief picture and shopping outings, but not much else than a quick return to the apartment to warm back up. Since today was a non-visiting day, I worked my way through more of the Robbins book. (It had a slow start, but is now very interesting, so I’ll probably finish it tonight).

Reviewing the blog before starting today’s entry, I noticed that it didn’t look like yesterday’s post posted, so I read along. Ah! The 12 hour time difference caused the entry to fall on Monday back home (or whatever time zone, probably Pacific, the Blog Repository is retained). I had posted earlier than usual since we had a morning visit. It’s there!

The Leaf Sweepers were back out in force this morning, but this time they were attacking the light snow which fell overnight. Tools of choice: Brooms made of bundled twigs and wooden snow shovels. I did see a few using coal shovels though. There was also a bobcat tractor outfitted with a sweeper going down Constitution Avenue, making much faster work than the Leaf Sweepers. I also saw one of the city plow trucks. Like in the US, it had a blade on the front, but it also had a sweeper underneath to push any un-plowed slush to the curb, and it was spreading sand in the intersections from the back. A very practical, multi-function vehicle!

Despite the cold, I did walk the length of Constitution avenue and take a couple nice photos with snow. Maybe I’ll get lucky and see a little more snow before departing. After all, if it’s going to be this cold, there might as well be some snow to pretty things up! I don’t know if it will help the overall exterior appearance of my apartment building though. It looked better when the trees still had leaves.

Mid-day temperature check: 26, feels like 15! Brrr! Good news is that the mud and puddles are freezing. Bad news is that any sidewalk that wasn’t swept earlier now had a polished layer of compacted snow and is VERY slippery. Some of the women are still wearing their stylish high-heeled boots, despite the treacherous conditions. Most I observed today were wearing more appropriate wet-weather boots, probably more to protect their investments than anything else.

When I first went outside, I was tempted to go for a longer walk today since the calm in the apartment complex courtyard didn’t feel so bad. Rounding the corner of the building, I walked right into the north wind and decided to keep my afternoon walk shorter today. Wind chill factor has a way of helping you decide such little things! But I still got a reasonable walk and some gift and grocery shopping done. The cold wasn't so bad once I got moving. My Columbia Parka is really doing its job! Perhaps I’m just not used to it since the cold doesn’t seem to deter even the little children from going to the playground!

It’s nice to have an occasional “down day,” but I sure do miss the kids and will be looking forward to another early visit. Two last quick items: 1) Congratulations to Elizabeth from Richmond who had court today, and 2) Keep Ann from Belgium in your prayers since she has court tomorrow.

One last Post Court Waiting Period day to go! Then things will get REALLY busy as we wrap paperwork and begin working our way home. The next two weeks are going to be hectic!