Icicles

It's Still Cold....

...and other babbling....

I think of a ton of things I ought to be blogging about, but if I don't write them down, they're gone.
Or if I lose the paper I write them on, they're gone, too.
Yes, that happens more often than I like to admit.

We are beginning to see the effects of the economic slowdown in our sheltered little corner of the world.
The one that hit me the hardest was my coffee roaster (my West Virginia coffee roaster) closing down. No, that's not true; the one that hit me the hardest was PC losing his job. After PC losing his job, the coffee roaster going under (with no hope for coming back up) hit hard.
Now, our coffee costs have gone up more than a dollar a pound and we now have to pay way more than 5.99 for shipping. Way more.
All of our syrups & sauces have increased in price.
Smoothies have increased.
Everything has increased.
[If I'm talking about the Coffee, why am I not posting this over at The 123? Because this is supposed to be a post about the economy getting personal, not about The 123 losing an important supplier.]
AGC Flat Glass -an automobile glass plant here in Taylor County- closed.
Everyday I have at least 1 person ask for a job. Somedays it's as many as 3 or 4. Everyday I hear someone personally tell me they got laid off and that they're looking for a job. It's not fun. I'm working to make more, but it's not an easy -or fast- thing to do (Yes, The 123 is now taking applications. For a short time. Call me at 304-672-6490).

It's snowing today. Again.
It's not the nice fluffy stuff we've been getting, either. It's sharp and hard and piling up fast. The roads are terrible and school was called off. I've shoveled the sidewalks. Twice. So far.

No, there is no cohesiveness to this post, unless I really stretched and said the cold is the perfect hibernation weather and our economy is doing just that.

I warned you I was babbling.

Cold

Cold is relative.
This morning it is a relatively balmy 25F degrees.
Last week I would have told you that 25 is cold, but after the cold snap this weekend, it really doesn't feel so bad (except when my glove fingers freeze to the shovel handle after I've pulled my hands into fists to keep them warm enough to clean the walkways and sidewalks).
Friday morning our thermometer at home said -2. Here in town it was zero. I think it made it up to about 10 degrees.
Saturday morning it was -11 at home and -4 here in town. That is cold.
Unless you live in Minnesota, then even those temperatures could feel relatively balmy.
Really.
I remember reading a book when I was a child that said if you spit at 40 below, it will freeze before it hits the ground. I never thought I'd put myself in a situation to see if that were true.
And then I grew up and moved to Minnesota.
Yep. It's true. You can hear it crackle as it freezes.
However, at that temperature, any exposed skin is not safe. Nothing is safe.
It was so cold, propane gelled in the tank. If it stayed that cold and you had to have the propane to keep the furnace going, you'd have to shovel red hot coals underneath the tank to warm it enough to be usable. Fortunately, we kept our coals in the wood burners (yes, plural - we had 2 of them) and kept feeding them. We went through about 7 cords of wood in a winter. 7 cords of good wood and we were still wearing sweaters in the house.
At that time, PC worked at the sawmill in our little community - about 3 miles from the house. The cold didn't stop them much. If it were 20 below or warmer (who would've thought you'd ever see '20 below' and 'warmer' in the same sentence?), the sawmill ran. At -21, the old man would grunt and the sawmill would stay idle.
Driving on the lake was a new thing for me, too. We lived about 2 miles north of Mille Lacs Lake. It is not a small lake. In fact, I believe it's one of the larger lakes in a state known for its lakes. Not long before Christmas, little icehouses would start appearing far out from shore. The little sheds on skis that sit along the water's edge all summer long were just waiting for the freeze. Once the ice was thick enough - about 3 feet- it was safe for a full size vehicle to drive on. The icehouses are hooked up like trailers and pulled out onto the lake. Whole little communities pop-up. Roads are plowed and the little shacks become homes away from home - one way to battle cabin fever.
In the floors of these little shacks (usually with a plywood bunk or two, a small heater, and a chair) are trapdoors. You pull the handle and it opens up to reveal the surface of the lake about 6 inches below floor level. You use an ice auger to drill a 6" hole. When the ice thickens, you use an auger extension (I am not making this up) to reach the water.
The fishing is good some days, not so good others: like any other fishing, I guess. (If you don't catch anything, you can hook up your house to your truck and move.) The walleye tastes wonderful, but if you're lucky, you catch such a big one you can't pull it in (I'm not sure that's lucky). And they have big, sharp teeth. Lots of them.
Living up there, I certainly saw things you'd never see around here.
That's okay with me.
If I ever feel the need to keep the ice open around my fishing hole, I know where to go.

It worked; I feel warmer already :).