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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

C-eh-N-eh-D-eh

Why, why, why don't I bring my camera everywhere I go? I know *good* bloggers do. Guess I'm not quite there yet.

I had a moment today. And I could have captured a part of it on camera. Only part of it, though. Cuz you can't take pictures of your heart.

I've been sick this week with strep throat (ugh), which has only added to my severe case of the winter blahs. And let me tell you, the winter blahs can be HARDCORE way up here in the Tundra. Seven hours of daylight. Day after day of minus forty degrees. Plugging in cars. Forging through feet upon feet of snow. Fogged-up glasses. Windshield scrapers. It's enough to send a person running to the doctor for some Zoloft.

But, today, in the midst of -40 degrees, my heart melted a bit.

I was in the car with Ellie, driving home from "Heaven on Earth for Parents of a Child With CP"(aka: The Movement Centre), singing along with Ernie and Burt, when I actually LOOKED outside.

White. Sparkling. Pure. Vast. Never-ending prairies. In the ditch beside the highway, the snowmobile tracks glistened in the snow.

Then (and here's the "should have brought my camera moment"), I passed the musher, being pulled at incredible speed by his team of dogs. I honked and waved at the dog sledder and mouthed, "Hi Uncle Frank!", as I drove on by.

I looked down at the thermostat on the car radio dashboard and noticed that it was reading -37.

I glanced in my rear view mirror and saw Ellie, bopping to Elmo, as snug as a bug in a rug in her down parka and pink boots.

Minus 37 never felt so good.

Yes, it's cold here. Yes, some of my crazy family competes in dog sled races. Yes, we have to dress in layers of feathers in order to stay half-way warm. Yes, it's as flat as the opened can of Orange Crush that's been sitting in my fridge for a week. But, today I was reminded that I love it here. Because PEOPLE I love are here. Because this is the soil my grandparents turned. Because it sparkles.

Next time, I'll bring my camera.

10 comments:

Cherry Blossom said...

Thanks for encouraging me. I will try and recall those beautiful pictures tonight when my furnace is acting up again. It just isn't staying on and keeping up. We have the furnace guy coming tomorrow. Guess I will light a fire in the fireplace tonight and maybe sleep there too!

Me said...

Wow, that is too cool. I've always wanted to see a team of dogs pulling a sled. & hope you're all better from your strep throat!

Me said...

BTW, is that minus forty degrees centigrade or fahrenheit?

Unknown said...

Both. -40 is the meeting point... after that, fahrenheit goes down faster than celcius (-50C is -58F, etc).

Either way, it's $#&@(! cold.

peitricia mae said...

I thought -30 was the meeting point! Now I have to re-edumacate all the Minneapolitans that I have led astray.

Unknown said...

Here's today's math lesson, cuz I'm just a geek like that: starting at the freezing point (0C or 32F), for every 5C you go 9F. So 10C = 50F, -10C = 14F, -50C = -58F ($@*!), etc.

Math's hard, let's go shopping!

Me said...

Uh-huh, like I'll remember that! Being a math-impaired sort, I just go online and use one of those centigrade-fahrenheit converters. ;-) Guess since I think math is hard, I'd better go shopping... does online shopping count??? Can I buy a new camera?

Me said...

Uh-huh, like I'll remember that! Being a math-impaired sort, I just go online and use one of those centigrade-fahrenheit converters. ;-) Guess since I think math is hard, I'd better go shopping... does online shopping count??? Can I buy a new camera?

Anonymous said...

Your storytelling made for a pretty good substitute.

Barbara

momtoablessing said...

That was actually really heartwarming,