A day in the life....

Sometimes I think I've lived here a little too long. Things the rest of the world deems abnormal and simply intolerable I tend not to think too much about. Today, for example, was spent with a great couple who were referred to us by fellow 'Rainer Debbie White in Juneau. Despite the continuing cold we had a full slate of homes to see today.

We are seven days into what is now projected to be a fourteen to sixteen day cold snap. Waking up and seeing the thermometer outside our kitchen window read -54 BELOW zero has become the norm. Now, I just pour myself a cup of coffee, pop some toast in the toaster and fire up the computer to see what's going on in the world without a second thought about the temps.

Around 11:00 I start getting dressed.... It's all about layers when it's this cold... lots of them. Twenty minutes later I'm sufficiently ensconced in enough thermal layers to trek across Antarctica and head out the door. Kathy's on the couch under a sheepskin hide not looking the least bit interested in joining me. Smart woman. I open the garage door, ease the truck out and chuckle as I watch the temperature drop from a toasty 72 above inside the garage to -54 below zero in the time it takes me to get to the end of our driveway.

When it's this cold the ice fog is so thick you can practically cut it with knife and this morning was no exception. Heading in from North Pole visibility was down to less than 30'. It was like driving inside a giant cotton ball and this was with precious little traffic on the road. Monday morning when everyone and their brother heads to work it will be much, much worse.

No real surprises on the tour today... it seems like every house was in various stages of repair due to the cold weather. The second to the last house was -50 below inside. I know that because there was an outdoor thermometer on the counter in the kitchen. With our eyelids beginning to freeze shut as we blinked, we stopped the tour when we found the spa tub full of water and frozen solid. Ice bath anyone?

A stop by Fred Meyers and a quick trip to Barnes and Noble and I was ready to call it a day... Tomorrow, I'm not leaving the house... except, maybe to feed the birds in our backyard. Gotta keep those little fellows well fed. Hope you all are staying warm!