Right now it is zero degrees outside, and with the wind blowing pretty hard the wind chill is WAY below zero. I think right now with the wind blowing at 12 miles an hour, the wind chill is about fourteen below zero. And since the wind is gusting to even higher speeds, that wind chill is probably going to go even further into Antarctica territory.
And what is truly insane? This is not going to be over anytime soon.
We will almost certainly get more snow before winter is over, and this winter has already moved up to the third snowiest winter in Boston’s recorded history. We only need another 18 inches of snow or so for this winter to advance to the snowiest of all time. And as far as temperatures go, this winter has been pretty brutal too. I can’t recall any other winter in which we had so many days and nights with the temperature so low and the wind chills so terrible.
So we have lots of cuddling up with each other, and with the animals, and with books, and sometimes with something to watch. Tonight we were watching Downton Abbey, and I found myself getting a bit emotional with the storyline of Lord Grantham’s dog, Isis, reaching the end of her life. She has been with him since the beginning of the show, and is such a constant presence with him that she appears in the opening credits with him. Perhaps more than anything else I have seen in that show, that simple storyline has struck home for me. Lord knows I have so little in common with that English aristocrat, but we both have quite a strong relationship with our respective canine companions.
I still miss Rerun.
-Geoff
The Books are Taking Over... 