Minnesota's got to me

[pameladean]

It is eight degrees below zero F in my corner of MInneapolis. The wind is getting up to mischief; watery sunshine is sparkling off the new-fallen snow. I have a cold and would benefit from a steamy shower, but the idea of getting wet on a day like this is confounding. I'm sitting in my office, a somewhat drafty sunroom, wearing a T-shirt, a sweatshirt, a pair of cotton knit pants, slippers, an ancient and enveloping purple fleece robe, and the little lap afghan with rosebuds on it that Lydy made me some time ago. Saffron, having stomped and thoroughly sucked on one shoulder of the robe, is curled up very tightly on the cat cushion on my desk. I tried  covering her with an old hand towel. She sat up, wriggled from under it, sniffed it thoroughly all over, had a definitive bath, and lay down firmly atop the towel. I'm not sure if it has been accepted or rejected.

The viral rather than the climatic cold is providing most of my discomfort at the moment; the only weather-related piece is that the radiator is slightly too warm for me to press my slippered feet against it. When I get dressed and put my shoes on, it will be perfect.

This is far from the most miserable cold of my experience, but it's removed my ability to focus. I've shovelled snow in the course of it and ordered groceries. I'm hoping to cook tonight. I think we will probably have to have soup of some kind, perhaps very miscellaneous.

The viral cold presented itself quite late on Friday night and caused me to cancel attending my tea group's feast, having a date with Eric, and attending my own family birthday party. I minded all that, but I don't mind being sick during this epic cold snap, especially since I did get some shovelling done. I should add, to be accurate, that I was assisted in the shovelling by a woman bringing her two sons along our block on their way to Butter, our lovely local bakery. The boys were, maybe, eight and ten, or nine and eleven, somewhere in there. They were very shy and wouldn't speak to me directly, but she got me to hand over the snow shovel and directed them in clearing the walk and tidying up the edges. She said they were bored and had lots of extra energy and it wasn't too soon for them to learn to be helpful. I thanked them all fervently; the rest I got from not clearing the public walk enabled me to widen the single lane I'd made in the walk through the front yard.

At this point the wind is blowing the snow around and the tidiness is somewhat marred, but everybody made a good effort just the same.

Tomorrow and tomorrow night are the really terrifying parts of the climatic cold; after that, we revert to more ordinary winter weather followed capriciously by a brief thaw. A February thaw is not unusual, but it doesn't usually ring itself in with such an air.

Saffron just tightened her sleep circle considerably, but I know that if I try to cover her with the edge of the towel, she'll just have to shake it off and start over. Cats are stubborn.

I'm going to try to clear my brain by showering and then either work on the less-complicated parts of the taxes or on my book, but it's possible that I'll just reread some old favorite or take a nap. I hope everybody who needs to be is safe from the whims of the climate and the vagaries of the weather.

P.

Comments

[sovay]

I'm going to try to clear my brain by showering and then either work on the less-complicated parts of the taxes or on my book, but it's possible that I'll just reread some old favorite or take a nap.

*hugs from a distance where we can't swap colds*

Have a good shower and feel better soon. I am glad you have cats.

[pameladean]

Distant non-swapping hugs back! I feel that you have had too much attention from the cold monsters and they should cut it out. I am glad we both have cats.

The shower was restorative, if still very counter-intuitive.

P.

[halfmoon_mollie1]

Cats are especially wonderful in the kind of breathstealing weather you are experiencing. If ever there was a 'good' time to have a cold virus I would guess it was now. Please stay warm. I'm so pleased you have helpful neighbors.

BonnieCat sends her best.

[pameladean]

Yes, cats are just the best. I am well bundled, though I suspect that tomorrow, when the high temperature might touch -14 if we're lucky, I won't want to be in my chilly office. But that's for then. Please give Miss Bonnie a special scritch for me and tell her to take good care of you.

P.

[halfmoon_mollie1]

I did manage to get out this morning, before the winds are supposed to make it Really Horrible outside. I have an appointment with the Estate Lawyer and the paralegal spent a good bit of time on the phone with me last week, I want to make her some cookies. And cookies have the extra added attraction of having to use the oven. My kitchen is the warmest room in this tiny hellhole. Stay warm.

[graydon]

I am not home today (because I work from home, and am thus there anyway) but am not working because my eyes itch and my bones ache and I'd really rather head it off if a day of warm liquids and feet up can do that.

Aoife can't really tell the difference and is currently in the desk bed attending to the outside of a hind leg. (At the time of revision, upper tummy.)

I've ignored the shovelling and sweeping off the porch; the city has sent a small clanking anachronism past so the sidewalk is clear, and I have no plans to go outside for the next three days or so, having made a food run this morning.

(The long range forecast has a low above freezing between Sunday and Monday next, with rain. I should likely as not shovel before that happens.)

I hope you find the viral cold clearing not later than the meteorological.

[pameladean]

I do hope the day of liquids and feet up will banish the aches and itches.

Saffron can't tell the difference either, other than that I'm wearing the fleecy robe. She approves of it, but I don't think she associates it with the coughing, which mildly affronts her.

I'm glad you can put off the shovelling. Minneapolis has decided to respond to climate change by scolding and fining residents a lot more when snow, rain, warm, and cold are all mixed up in impossible combinations that make keeping sidewalks clear a real puzzle.

P.

[graydon]

Thank you! I think there's at least been progress. (well, progress in the direction of improvement!)

I have never got ... wait, no, that's not true. I have once got a worse look from Aoife than when I sneeze, but that involved opening the Wrong Can of Fish. Convulsive movements appear to be a generalized source of feline disapproval.

Kitchener used to have rather draconian bylaws about shovelling the sidewalk, and just a year or so ago changed them. I am glad of the change; going out to shovel in the freezing dark does not appeal on its own merits.

[bibliofile]

Yes, the Home Cat Does Not Approve of head colds or chest colds. Coughing is convulsive and sudden and too LOUD and what are we thinking? DNW.

(We all are at the ends of our viral colds. Sympathy to all who are in an earlier phase.)

[catherineldf]

Hope you feel better soon!

[pameladean]

Thank you! My mom just sent me a box of ginger-citrus tea, so there's hope!

P.

[azurelunatic]

Cats are fantastic and sometimes rather set in their ways. I just started a large pot of beet stew last night, and I'm looking forward to having more tonight.

[carbonel]

We missed you at tea! But the four of us remaining soldiered on and did justice to the lovely spread.

As I just pointed out in another comment, the one of the very few downsides of working at home is that I don't get a snow or cold day. So I should really go back to work now that I've had my DW break.

I really can't remember it being this cold in the daytime (-25F a while ago) since I lived at Finagle's Freehold.

[asakiyume]

I wish we people could curl up in tight circles like cats to stay warm.

I've been having visions of people and animals all curling up together, the wild and the tame, to stay warm.

Feel better soon!