It's So Nice Out!

Today, January 24, in Yosemite National Park (where I plan to be about year from now), temperatures started out in the high 30s, and may reach the mid 60s at lower elevations.

Today, January 24, in Boston, Massachusetts, it's 4, which is so low it looks awkward to write in numerals. It's below zero where I grew up in Vermont.

Today is, I hope, colder than I'll ever bother with out west, but high Utah and mountain California might get pretty chilly. So I got my new long johns in the mail (the only ones at the store had little Christmas trees all over them; I just can't get behind that), put on my "nothin' at all!" pants, my new fleece, my wind jacket, and my Christmas sock-monkey hat (explain why I'll wear a monkey on my head but not trees on my underwear…) and donned my backpack to fetch 40 lbs of groceries for some hot, hearty meals. My experiment was to see whether the wind shell plus fleece and long undies would be adequate for winter, so I wouldn't have to spring for a (bulky, expensive, and non-versatile) heavy-duty winter jacket. 

I can't put my arms down.

I was sweating. Having to do about 15 minutes of yoga just to climb into all that gear probably helped, too. But I didn't feel a thing. I was so immune to the weather that I actually made an excursion onto the middle of frozen-solid Spy Pond, about a half mile from my house. The only thing that would have made me more comfortable on the wind-swept ice was a pair of sunglasses.

Not pictured: Copious back sweat

I was ready for winter this year; we had a great, warm summer, and I'm still excited about the old-school ice and cold. When I was out today, the only other person on the bike path was a middle-aged woman. She gleefully kicked along snowballs and skated around on the icy spots. She rules. It seems like more than half of being comfortable in awful weather is deciding beforehand that it's fun.

That whole walking-on-water thing isn't nearly as impressive up here. I did it for like 20 minutes.

Now to make stew!