Good Sunday to you. I thought I’d pop in this weekend to honor the coldest day on my planet.
Yup, we are in the middle of a good old fashioned “Wind Chill Warning.”
Check it out.
55 BELOW ZERO?!
That can’t even be real can it? I mean, once it hits a certain temperature we should just call it pain.
PAIN.
Now I know that most people living in this world are not acquainted with a “Feels Like” forecast, but there it is up there warning us that our noses are sure to freeze instantly upon exposure, turn black and fall off if we dare to go out uncovered. The “real” temperature is probably only like -10, and, well, that’s doable I suppose.
But yesterday I went from my house to the pickup holding on to my coffee mug and by the time I shut the door on the passenger side I had added about fifty-seven new curse words to my vocabulary, my hot coffee was iced and my fingers were blue.
So I brought the puppy in from Mom and Pops’ garage, called Little Sister, poured a glass of wine, made some soup and we played dominos.
And today it’s even colder. I’m looking out the window at the sun shining on snow banks that were melting on Wednesday now frozen solid today as that wind pushes ribbons of fresh snow along its surface like rolling smoke.
And even though I knew I’d be risking my cheeks, I had to get out there for a moment to capture it.
Because only in cold weather like this do we get a halo around the sun.
A frozen rainbow without a drop of rain.
A sun dog.
A little gift of beauty as a reward for suffering frost bite.
Take a look. That is cold.
Hair freezing cold.
Snotsicle cold.
Get in through your Carharts, jeans, long-underwear, leather boots, wool socks, cotton socks and to your pasty little toes cold.
So let’s warm up shall we?
Here’s a few options to make you feel warm and fuzzy and get you through this frozen Sunday.
First, listen to “my attempt at making winter sexy” song Winter’s Sweet and get in the mood to make this soup:
Read more about cow dogs and the new puppy in today’s column ‘Coming Home’ published every Sunday in the Fargo Fourm.
Read this blog from fellow North Dakota writer, Ryan Taylor who has compiled a series of his late mother’s columns, also titled “Meanwhile, back at the ranch…” from their local newspaper in Towner, ND. Her wholesome perspective is sure to keep your mind off the weather.
Then, check out this cute illustration of the one-eyed pug from my friend Cheyanne,
go shopping on her Etsy site, “Hang it on the line” and let me know if you want your own “A Girl Needs a Dog” t-shirt.
While you’re shopping, buy my album so you can learn all the words to that song!
And if cute fuzzy puppies, music, reading, cooking and shopping don’t warm you up, just pretend you’re here in the summer.
Wishing you love and a good pair of mittens.
Your frozen friend,
Jessie
Meanwhile, back at the ranch... 
Great pictures of the sun dogs!
Found this on the web Jessie:
”
Hi, I’m Dave Thurlow from the Mount Washington Observatory and this is The Weather Notebook. Today I’m going to talk about the significance of 40 degrees below zero. Now you’re probably saying to yourself “Oh boy that sounds fascinating”, but curious things happen at forty below zero, give or take a few degrees. Scientifically, 40 below is a temperature worthy of note.
First of all, am I talking about 40 below fahrenheit or forty below celsius? Well that’s a bit of a trick question because the answer is both. Forty below is the only point where fahrenheit and celsius are the same, where the two scales cross.
It’s also near the point at which mercury freezes. Mercury is the most commonly used fluid in thermometers and it’s fine for temperatures above minus forty. For colder temperatures a different fluid is used, usually alcohol. Though mercury is more precise, alcohol doesn’t freeze until minus 200 fahrenheit.
Interestingly enough, if you figure the average of the record lows for each state in the country, it comes to minus 40.
Minus 40 is also the point where it’s no longer safe to expose any skin to the cold. At this temperature, or windchill temperature, skin can freeze almost instantly. This was determined, believe it or not, by a bunch of scientists who stood around in Antarctica until their skin froze.
Forty below also represents the ultimate freezing point of water. Microscopic drops of water can stay unfrozen down to around minus forty, seventy-two degrees colder than what we all know to be freezing for big water. This means that even clouds and fog are made of tiny ice crystals at this frigid temperature, but can actually be made up of drops of water at temperatures well below freezing. Forty below — you might never feel it but at least now you.”
Be careful out there. Loved the new song. “A girl needs a dog” is one of my favourite songs on your album. Followed your link to the ETSY site but could not find the T-shirt.
egads keep warm! keep everyone warm! I’m cold just reading this. Love the photos.
HA!! I remember 40 below zero–and that was NOT the wind chill. THAT was the actual temperature…I think the wind chill was something like 60 below. That’s cold, baby. And I rode horseback to country school when it was that cold. BRRR. Remember it still. The snow squeaks, it hurts to breathe, you get all that wet air and snot and stuff on the wool scarf that covers your face to the eyes..then it freezes. Yuck. Don’t miss it at all. Enjoying the 75 degrees here in sunny Florida today.
Jessie
Not a good time to be building decks!!Glad Im wintering in Pagosa Springs,Colo. skiing Wolf Creek. 42 today! See you all in the spring…
Glenn
I can only guess how a man feels at that temperature. I was too cold and at minus 24 last year. In northern Sweden and the temperature goes down to minus 40 degrees.
Lol nice i love dogs they are my fav animals and i hope to be a vet! Anyway i did a post like this! Thanks for the great pics
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