Greetings from the Ice Planet of Hoth

I really thought I’d do a better job and updating now that my schedule has slowed down a bit. Yet here I am, a week since my last post, and I’m still struggling with things to write about.

I’ve come to realize two things about writing on this blog now that I’m in the 5400. It was easier to write about things when I was living in Denver because I didn’t have to be so anonymous about everything. There was a certain amount of anonymity built into to writing about Denver, just because of the mere size of the city. Just because I wrote about Snooze or Lechugas wasn’t going to reveal details about my exact location in Denver, my profession, my coworkers or anybody else I would talk about. In the 5400, it’s quite a different story. Now, if I write about local hangouts in detail (including real names), then the real identity of this quaint little town will be revealed and it will only be too easy figuring out what I do and what Trout does for a living, and then, well, I guess I wouldn’t have to worry about struggling to write a post, because there would be no more posts.

Now I realize that having to change how I write about certain topics isn’t a really stellar reason why I haven’t been updating, but I think it’s partly to blame. Coupled with shifting my frame of mind, when I was in Denver, I think that blogging might have filled the void where my social life should have been. It is much easier to come up with semi-interesting posts when you have (what seems like) all the time in the world. It’s not like Trout and I are out on the town every night, but lounging around at home with him, watching a movie or reading a book while he ties flies is a hell of a lot more exciting than sitting at home by myself trying to find something to watch on network television on a Saturday night. Then, blogging was a much more exciting and intellectual option, now, well, it’s just slipped amongst my priorities.

That being said, let’s talk about the weather! No matter how anonymous I want to remain or how super-social I’ve been lately, it’s hard to ignore the perpetual deep freeze we’ve found ourselves in the last couple of weeks. The wind rarely blows here in the 5400, but when it does, it usually means a significant weather change. Sometime during my second week of work, from the comfort of my cozy little office, I watched the wind whip the trees from side to side, knowing that while it tossed trees around, it was also sweeping all the warm air out of the valley and the temperature would quickly drop. By the next day, it was well below zero with a fair amount of snow on the ground. We haven’t hit above freezing (and, until late last week, above 10) since. Only on Thursday and Friday did the roads and sidewalks start to melt. Today we awoke to 6 more inches of light fluffy snow, but, thanks to overcast skies, it’s in the 20s. We’re still not looking at above freezing temperatures for awhile, but at this point, we’ll take anything above 20.

When it’s this cold, it’s almost a toss up whether to walk to work or drive. We don’t have a garage, and my car doesn’t have an engine heater. Driving about ½ mile requires me to warm the car up for at least 15 minutes, which is such a huge waste of gas. Even after a sufficient warm up, my car hates this kind of weather, and lets me know this in any way it can. However, walking to work requires bundling up in a long sleeve shirt, sweater, pull over fleece, winter coat, long underwear, a couple layers of socks, ear band, hat, mittens and a scarf. If the wind isn’t blowing, it’s pretty easy to stay warm, except that trying to breathe with out the buffer of your scarf means instant freezing of one’s nasal passages. Which is the better of two evils? For most of last week and the first part of this week, Trout and I both walked to work, but by the end of this week, I was dropping Trout off on my way to the office.

Both Trout and I have to head into our respective offices at different times today. To save time, we’ll be driving. The roads have not been plowed, possibly because the city of the 5400 doesn’t actually have any snowplows, but drive, we will. It’s quite the adventure. At least the weather is warmer. Not warm, just warmer.

And on a completely unrelated note, I think I’ve found the recipe for the Oatmeal Peanut Butter M&M Monster Cookies my elementary principal used to make. I haven’t had them in almost 10 years, and because they’re pretty much the best cookies on the face of the planet, I think I’m going to do some baking this afternoon. It will give me something to do while Trout watches the Bears and Saints game.

That’s all. Stay warm and at the very least, I’ll see you all here next week.

Hasta.