The Eskimo have a word for it...

No, not 'snow' but Pibloktoq, an ethnopsychiatric illness, a form of winter madness or hysteria.

I'm not quite speaking in tongues or keening and ripping my clothes or running naked in the snow, but I have sympathy with the Eskimo who do that. I'm tired of being cold all the time. I'm tired of wearing 5 or 6 layers all the time and still being not quite warm enough. My feet are always cold unless I wear my Uggs in the house, as I'm doing now.

On the other hand, the picture is a view from our bed and it shows what I saw this morning as I opened my eyes. A beautiful, beautiful snowy world. And the COG and I went snowshoeing yesterday and that was lots of fun.

So my particular form of Pibloktoq is a little schizo, moving between wailing 'my feet are soooo cold' and thinking 'isn't it beautiful' moment by moment.

Oh well, Spring will come, just not soon enough.

Mamma Mia!

Finally got the COG to watch Mamma Mia last night. It took some pleading, some promises of pictures of sunny places, and rather a lot of wine. But, he loved it! He'll never admit it but he sang. He danced. I had lots of fun watching. There's something exhilarating about watching middle-aged people having a great time - making fools of themselves and not caring. I refer, of course, to the film, not the COG.

A great Mid-Winter film with no subtext or redeeming social value whatsoever.

Snowshoes!

Here is the COG on snowshoes at Appleton Farm. It was cold - about 0F, but with a wind chill of -12F. However, once we got going, we were toasty warm because it's pretty hard work. Snowshoeing uses the same number of calories per hour as cross-country skiing. What a happy fact. One of the best things was being able to go off trail, bushwhacking through the woods. There is something so peaceful about the quietness of a snow-filled woodland. We had a great time.

As I was taking the picture, the COG asked if I had put the camera on the 'snow' setting. I hadn't, because I don't know here it is and it was too cold to find out. So it's darker than the nice pictures the COG took. Tant pis, as they say.

Cutest Baby in the World?

Miss Octavia Mary McCambridge, aged almost 3 months. Quite possibly the cutest baby in the world.