Due to extremely cold weather, our power company had sporadic blackouts lasting a few seconds. I was not concerned, because I knew we always had hot water when the power was out. Lathering my hair with shampoo on Christmas Eve, I ignored the shower light that went out and came right back on. Yow!! The water from the tank-less water heater immediately became cold. COLD!! I wasted one second deciding whether or not to step out. I stayed and rinsed off the shampoo. It’s not quite as bad as you might think, because I am now in the habit of standing under cold water for a moment at the end of every shower. I can stand more cold water than I ever dreamed of! When my brain got over the cold water shock, I realized we have hot water only when the generator kicks in during a power outage. Lesson learned. There is no photo, because my hair was plastered to my head and did not stand completely on end.

On the day after Christmas, I was determined to walk to make up for staying inside for a few days. Besides, I had eaten an unseemly amount. It was 9F ( -12.7C). I would have been fine if I hadn’t taken four short videos of the two little streams that run under the road. Below is one frame from each video, showing streams running under ice.

I shoved the camera back in my pocket and pulled my bare hands back into the sleeves of the coat. I chose to walk as fast as I could to warm the hands, rather than admit defeat and slink home. Back at my street, I was quite warm and stopped to talk to Frankie and her visiting daughter as they walked their dogs. Even with that stop, the house felt overheated. I am between cooling off and shivering now.