Bad Bad Temperatures

I just want to throw this out there.  These are not “wind chill” temperatures, they are the real thing.  It’s actually warmer in Alaska today!  The folks in Chicago probably have no sympathy for me.  I can hear the scoffs now, “go back to Florida if you’re going to cry”.  Well, in my defense, my coworkers are none too happy either.  Apparently, this is not normal for Kentucky.

Dreaming of Warm Sunshine

Well, from the title of this blog entry, I’m sure you can guess, I did not make it to the fourth hike in the Winter Hike Series.  I was awake and dressed, ready to go… until I looked out of the window.  It was snowing sideways!  I couldn’t even tell where the lawn ended and the road began.  I will brave walking through the snow with a bunch of other crazies up here (I can wear enough layers of clothes to keep me safe) but I draw the line at trying to drive in it.  The news has been reporting accidents due to white out conditions and spin outs for the last month and half.  Not just fender benders either, multi-car pile-ups with semi-trucks strewn everywhere!  No thank you! 

So, instead, I sat at home feeling very homesick for warmer weather.  Which is how I’ve come to share today’s blog picture with you.  This picture was taken in 2004 in Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean; my absolute favorite military station I was located while serving on active duty (ah, yeah, this is me on active duty).

Life is wonderful.  Feet propped up, watching the wind surfers, catching some rays.  I sure miss DG!  The original purpose of this blog was to document my happening in the Midwest US, not to reminisce on past places.  However, here it is.  What I am doing in the Midwest this week is daydreaming about warmer times gone by.  Of course, I miss DG for many other reasons, great friends, beautiful scenery, and meaningful work to name a few.  I also liked the ability to walk or bicycle to the beach, store, gym, clubs, everything except work actually. I liked the small town atmosphere and the isolation.  I liked knowing there was a limited amount of people on the island and practically no crime (offenders were quickly shipped back to their home country for punishment).  I loved the water.  The island formed a footprint shaped atoll so the lagoon on the inside of the footprint was calm and warm, while the beaches on the outside had wild crashing waves.  No matter what your mood, you could be satisfied.  The only disadvantage of the island was how difficult it was to get to and from.  No such thing as a quick hop home to see your family.  Oh well, not everything is perfect and nothing lasts forever.  

 

Ho hum, winter blues…

I’ve just realized that February makes six months that I have been writing this blog.  It was my intention to look back at previous posts to determine how wonderful (or not) life is up here.  This post will have to go into the NOT category.  If Mother Nature throws us too many more arctic blasts, I’ll be packing my bags for sure!

 

Winter Hike Series No. 3

I made it to hike number 3!  This one was held at Miami Whitewater Forest.

Oh boy, doesn’t it look cold.  The lake was frozen and the snow was flying.  I was smart this time, took my crampons along and used them for the entire hike.  I actually bought them three years ago when I first moved the KY but this was the first time strapping them to my boots.  They made a world of difference; I didn’t feel myself sliding around at all.  They are well worth the money (less than $20) if you plan to do any snowy/icy walks.

For my warm weather friends

and family, these are crampons. 

I didn’t know they existed either 

until moving up here.

Here’s another view over the frozen, snow-covered lake on the Timberlake Trail.

Here’s our group nicely strolling through the snow on the Badlands Trail.  I say “nicely strolling” but these hikes are about five miles long and cover some diverse terrain.  Even though it’s cold outside, you can work up a sweat inside of your winter coat.

I’ll try my hardest to get to hike number 4, but, as of today, the temperatures are once again below zero! Whew, I thought KY was far enough south to not have to worry about all of this!!!

Winter Hike Series No. 2

I am surviving the cold and have accomplished another winter hike.  It was a little questionable in light of our past week with an arctic front plunging our temperatures into the negative numbers.  Yep, Monday and Tuesday we had a low of negative 9; I don’t think our high got above 10.   

The second hike for the Winter Hike Series was at Sharon Woods.  The skies were threatening rain but it actually turned out to be a wonderful day; temperatures in the high 40’s and the sun even peaked out a few times.

On a personal note, Tuesday morning I hit a deer on my drive into work.  Scared me to death, one minute all is fine, I’m driving down a dark road (the road was clean and dry so I was relaxed, not white-knuckled as I would have been had there been snow on the ground), and all of a sudden I see a two deer jumping into the road.  I slammed on the brakes but they were too close to avoid.  I’m not sure if I hit one or both.  I think if they had jumped into the street two seconds later, they would have been jumping on my car rather than in front of my car.  They were that close!  What’s the matter with these animals?!!  Anyway, my bumper in now duct-taped down to the hood to keep it from flapping around when I drive.  Class-act, all the way! Okay, back to the hike posting.

Here is the crowd starting to gathering around at the start.  I don’t know how many people were there, but Hamilton County Parks limits these events to 275 participants.  You have to register on line and they say that all five hikes in the series have sold out.  This does not really look like 275 people… maybe a few were scared off by the ominous grey clouds overhead.

Our wildlife sightings consisted or a couple Red Tailed Hawks overhead and these ducks in the lake.   Most of the lake was covered with the thin sheet of ice but these guys didn’t seem to mind the frigid waters.  I think they were Mallards or American Black Ducks, just your basic pond variety. I’m told there are Wood Ducks here as well, but we didn’t spot any. 

Here is the dam that controls the water level for the lake, which is a man-made lake built for flood control in the region.  Overall, a neat park and a great place for a winter hike.