The Heat is Out

I awoke this morning to very cold sheets. That was odd because, while I usually go to bed in cold sheets, when I wake up they're nice and toasty. I didn't think a lot of it until I heard the furnace try to start.

I say "try" because the blower started, I heard clicking, but the whoosh of heat never began. I'm not sure when during the night it stopped but this morning it was 52° in the house. No wonder my sheets were not warm and toasty. 

I thought maybe the pilot light was out. I looked for a bit but couldn't make sense of anything in the unit. And then I thought maybe it doesn't even have a pilot light. So I called the landlord and left a voice message for him.

And then I wondered what in the world to do with myself in a cold house. The day turned out alright, after all.

I started the self-cleaning oven cycle because that heats up a house like nobody's business -- and, let's face it, it really needed to be done anyway. I had some coffee and cereal. Then I went outside and shoveled snow. Yup, it snowed last night. It was such a beautiful day, I became inspired to go for a walk. The landlord showed up a short time after I came home.

He brought two very nice space heaters and his toolbox. He quickly determined that the furnace does not have a pilot light; it has an electric igniter and it was dead. He said it's easy to replace but the heating and plumbing store which sells them is closed on Sunday. So he's coming back tomorrow morning to replace the part. 

In the mean time, I'm snuggled up in my bed with an extra comforter, my heated rice snakes, and a book. Oh, and there's a lovely space heater in the corner of the room. 

All is well. 

Cleaning Up My Camera Roll

This is a collection of photos that I have had sitting in my phone for months. I am keeping them because I like them for whatever reason. But right now they're just taking up space and I'm afraid I might lose them some how (read: accidentally delete them). So here they are. 

This was taken from the window next to my desk at work. There are three coyotes running through the snowstorm. 

This is a poster from inside The Ogden. I saw it on the wall while waiting to use the bathroom before seeing Trombone Shorty. I had to take a picture -- blurry as it is -- because I am 90% sure I was at one of those two shows a few years ago. 

This is confetti in my plastic cup of champagne on New Year's Eve at Star Bar. Boo. 

Frozen fountain splash outside Levi, Ashley, and Lance's apartment. 

A snail that Miriam sculpted out of glittery silly putty. 

Suzy hit 83,000 miles. This was a few months ago. I think she's gone another 3,000 since then. Love that car. 

A restaurant name that makes me giggle.  Two different cities? In two different countries? Why?

A guy on the train platform. His shirt says, "4:30 Better late than never."

Winter is Ovah!

Officially over! Today is the spring equinox!  I know that doesn't mean a whole lot of anything in Colorado but it means a whole heck of a lot to my mental health.  It means that summer is coming.  And that means driving with the windows down, wearing flip flops and tank tops, sitting on the patio with a glass of cold riesling and playing kickball.  It means grilling and having a beautiful array of fresh, delicious produce bursting out of all my cooking.  It means swimming and sunshine and thunderstorms and nearly daily rainbows.  It means motorcycle trips and wine in Palisade.

I'm not naive enough to think we don't have any more wintery days in our near future.  In fact, Paul and I were talking about this a few days ago and I said something about bracing myself for a blizzard any day now.  He poo-pooed that and said we were done with snow until next fall.  I poo-pooed that and reminded him that since I moved here all the kids' snow days have been in March.  So we made a bet that within the next 30 days -- that 30 days ends on April 10, I think -- we'll get at least 5 inches of snow in a 24-hour period.  Psst ... I'm gonna win.

Anyway, whether I win the bet or Paul wins the bet, the cold mistress known as Ms. Winter is officially over! Everyone join me in a happyhappyhappy dance!

The Dreaded Colorado Winter

It turns out that winter in Colorado isn't so bad. Every time I told someone I was moving to Colorado, I got one consistent reaction: "Oh my gosh! You're going to freeze! It's so cold! Can you drive in the snow?!" And I just nodded along and said things like, "Yeah, I know. I think we can handle it. We'll get used to it." Secretly, I was wondering just how bad it would be.

I am happy to say that I have been pleasantly surprised. We've had a few small snow showers and one that was larger and included some freezing rain and sleet-type stuff. That was not fun but it didn't last long. The worst part is that driving on slushy streets quickly covered my vehicle in a thick layer of some of the nastiest dirt and grime I've ever seen. I twitched just looking at it and simply touching the door handle brought on a full-body shudder. Nasty.

You know how "they" say, "It's not the heat, it's the humidity"? Well, "they" are absolutely right. I learned this while living in West Texas because 100 degree heat isn't bad when the humidity is 10% and you can sit in the shade with a nice breeze. It's actually pleasant. What "they" don't usually say is, "It's not the cold, it's the humidity." But this is true, too. The air here is dry and cold which isn't nearly as bad as wet and cold.

The other good thing about dry air is that when the snow and ice melt, the water evaporates quickly. In wetter climes, the water would only make things worse by re-freezing into solid sheets of ice overnight. This doesn't often happen here.

So, there it is. Winter in Colorado isn't shocking or horrifying or freeze-your-bum-off cold. At least not that I've seen; nature could prank me tomorrow though, just for grins.