Dog days

Oh hi. Did you miss me?

I'll take that as a yes.

For the past two weeks I have experienced, not mere distractions; I have had even greater distractions that distracted me from the original distractions.

In fact, there were a few moments in there when I feared that my hair had actually caught fire.

But no. I have all of my hair -- un-singed -- and my brain did not explode. And I am among the living.

And in a practical sense, not significantly the worse for wear.

So here we go. 

What do you think about all of this weather? 

As I ask this, my second question of the day, our projected high temperature here in Columbia is 75 degrees.

Last week when, on the worst day of the polar vortex, it was 22 degrees below zero -- actual temperature -- in Chicago, I paused to reflect on our visit there last August.

Chicago is my favorite city in America. TG shares my enthusiasm, not least because he's been a die-hard Cub fan for nearly 50 years.

I love the Cubs too, but not in the same way and certainly for not as long. But Chicago? I'm pretty sure my affection for Chi-town exceeds TG's.

Not that it's a contest.

Having lived in Chicago several times as a child, and having lived thirty miles from it during most of the '70s, all of the '80s, and the early part of the '90s, I've experienced its weather more times than I care to remember.

There was that time -- January 20, 1985, to be exact -- when Chicago's all-time low temperature record was set. It was 27 below zero that day -- lower by five degrees than last Wednesday's low.

And then there was Saturday, December 24, 1983, when the temperature -- not counting wind chill, and you must count the wind chill -- sank to minus 25. There are no words to describe that kind of weather to someone who's never felt it, so I won't try. 

But on that Christmas Eve, while I was at home with three-year-old Stephanie and nine-month-old Audrey, baking cookies, TG left to go a few miles away to the hardware store.

When he was ready to head back home, and attempted to start our car, the vehicle declined to acquiesce to his request. TG called a friend, who came to help him. He eventually got home.

I do remember wearing a red silk dress to church services on Christmas Sunday, so apparently the car recovered.

And I won't bore you with tales of the brutal weather we endured in the Chicagoland area throughout the mid- to late '70s. You could look it up.

Suffice it to say that at least once while TG and I were dating, when he'd come to pick me up at the mall where I worked, the doors to his Toyota Celica were frozen shut and I had to climb in the window.

I was lean and lithe back then. Not to mention eager to hang with my beau.

At one point during that winter of 1978-79, there were 40 straight days in which the temperature did not rise above freezing. (Not a record for Chicago -- that was in 1976-77, when for 43 straight days the highs were below 32 degrees.)

Fast forward -- and I do mean fast -- to last August. While we were in Chicago to take in the city sights and delights (the restaurants! I can't even) plus a Cubs game, they were having a whole string of days with temperatures in the nineties.

On Monday, August 27th, our first full day there, the high was ninety-seven. Also by no means any kind of record for Chicago. But still.

My hair didn't ignite that day either, but I texted to Audrey -- who revealed that it was significantly cooler in Columbia-- that if I'd been at home, I wouldn't have left the house in ninety-seven-degree heat. 

And yet there I was, walking up and down Michigan Avenue in the unofficial furnace of the Midwest. Fry an egg on the sidewalk? Forget that. You could show an egg the sidewalk and it would fry up in its shell.

Right where TG and I walked, it was 119 degrees colder last Wednesday in Chicago.

So there you have it: the vagaries of the weather. We were in the Windy City during the Dog Days of summer, and as intense as that was, I'd go back to that tomorrow before I'd want to be there when it's 22 below zero.

These K-9s for Cops dogs have decorated the streets of Chicago for a few years now. I'm a dog person so naturally I snapped as many as I could even though I was in dire need of air conditioning.

Yesterday? It was fifty degrees in Chicago. In February! I've been there when it was fifty-five -- with wind and rain -- in July.

So it's true what you've heard: If you don't like the weather in Chicago, wait ten minutes.

Which is about how long it's taken you to read this post. For which I thank you.

And that is all for now.

=0=0=0=

Happy Tuesday :: Happy February

Comments

[Barb]

I like the dogs - not the least of which is the live one. I'm surprised none of them is panting in the heat. Now, I can't get the image of you in a red silk dress crawling in the Celica window on a freezing day out of my mind - I know I'm mixing up times and images, but that's what my imagination has conjured. We are so accustomed to changeable weather here in the mountains of CO that locals are rarely taken by surprise. Even in summer, a balmy day can turn frigid, and it can snow. If I walk more than an hour from the house, I make sure I have a jacket in my backpack. Today, it was high 30's but the sun was warm so I had to tie off my coat on my walk. Slow down Jenny and enjoy your winter in Columbia.

[Mari]

Of course I've missed you!
The weather - don't want to even think about it. We are supposed to have freezing rain all night tonight. I hate to think of going to work tomorrow!
Yes, Chicago does deal with lots of crazy weather too. :)
The dogs are cool, and I appreciate you suffering in the heat to take the photos. :)

[Jennifer]

@Barb ... Haaahaha nope, by the time I wore the red silk dress, we had two children and the Celica was long gone for a more sensible sedan. But I don't miss those days one bit! We fuss a little bit here about how hot it gets here so SOON, but we've still got low humidity. For the moment. xoxo

@Mari ... I saw your forecast. I'm so sorry. I wish you could hunker down and not leave the house until springtime! xoxo

[sally]

Okay then, I'm picturing you going through the window to be with your beau. That's too funny, Jenny. I probably would have done the same, though. :)

I've missed you too; you're back and now I am.

Great photo's as always.

xoxo

[Judy]

I've always thought of you as such a lady, so picturing you trying to crawl through the window of a car, in a dress, with who knows what showing, gave me kind of a shock.
Even here in Michigan we aren't used to the -50 wind chills. I just stayed inside while the Polar Vortex was here on vacation.
Yesterday we had ice. Ah-hh, the joy of it all!

[Jennifer]

@Sally ... desperate times called for desperate measures! It seemed romantic at the time. Haaahaha xoxo

@Judy ... well, bear in mind that I'm sure I was wearing a ladylike midi-length wool skirt and knee-high boots; it was the style, and I worked in a dress shop. TG's car was small and he pulled it to the curb (I can see it in my mind as though it happened yesterday) in front of the mall entrance. I weighed 108 pounds and as I remember it, all I had to do was swing one leg up and slide in, haaaahahaha! It's hard for me to imagine attempting anything like that today, but forty years have elapsed. Such fun times.

Speaking of which, I saw your ice forecast. But you're on a warming trend! xoxo

[Cheryl]

So glad that you are living in a climate that you absolutely love...swimming pool for the hard days.
Alan and I have always known that we made the right decision to not take a school in Chicago. The winters are way too long.

I did love all the dogs on the streets of Chicago. Great pics!

[Jennifer]

@Cheryl ... The only way I'd live in Chicago again would be if I had a cozy house like yours and never had to leave unless I wanted to! And of course I'd have a wonderful dog. xoxo

[Donna (Texas)]

Hahaaa….just shaking my head at you....
It was 80 something here yesterday...today, high...52.
I'm wanting SPRING to be here!
hughugs