We didn’t walk outside for five days in the past week because of rain/snow/ice/teen temps. Mostly we avoided falling rain and black ice. The lowest temperature was 4F/-15.5C. Brrr! Half a walk was our limit today, because it was 14F/-10C. The road was clear in only a few places and rather crunchy underfoot in others.

We are neighbor Joyce’s Road Testers. Our walk begins shortly before she drives to work, so we will alert her if there are dangerous conditions.

I texted, “On duty. Road snowy at bend. Not particularly icy.”

Her reply: “Okay you crazies! March on! But be careful.”

She was glad I texted her again when we were home safely. Joyce, having lived in Georgia many years, has an internal temperature that plummets in cold weather. She freezes until there is danger of sun stroke outside. I’ve told people here that we still have our heavy winter coats from New York, and that’s the secret to keeping warm. My coat really is heavy. It weighs 2.6 pounds! (1.179 kilograms) Even if it gets shabby, there is no way I’ll get rid of it. John would call that job security, for the coat, anyway.

Our feet made beautiful crunching sounds on the snowy road. Two cars passed us, when there would be seven or eight on a normal day. The weight of the cars did not melt or compress the snow, just left perfectly-formed tire tracks. We turned around at the stop sign, because John’s toes were rapidly cooling and my hands were cold. A hearty breakfast came next. With son John $, we had bacon, livermush, cheese melted on eggs, English muffins, and all the coffee we wanted. Would you say we earned it?