Saturday Stories. #3

Good morning everyone! It is another cold day here with cloudy skies once again. Yesterday the sun was shining nicely all day, but it was cold. It has been cold all week actually. But it is January. So, temperatures in the -30s are not unusual, whether that is Fahrenheit or Celsius, both are basically the same at those temps and meet exactly at -40. 

And when the daytime high is only -8F (-22C), or even colder, then I consider it to be just plain cold. That is especially true when it is windy as well. But I have gone out walking in much colder temperatures. One week in January some years ago, the temperature stayed at -50F to -54F (about -45C to -47C) each night and warmed up to -30F to -35F (about -35 to -37.2C) during the day. 

Canada Jay at my old feeder.

I went out walking each morning for about 2 miles. That was cold walking. That cold air nearly froze the lungs. I had a scarf over my mouth and nose, but it was still cold. There was only about a foot (30cm) of snow on the ground, so walking was easy at least. But it was cold. I had a camera at the time to take pictures, but it was too cold and the camera froze completely. 

So no pictures. It was an older camera than what I have now. The kind that used film. Terrible cameras. But they did work. But it was cold. A person would have to be crazy to go out in that weather just for fun. Yep, that is me. Amazing the things I used to do. Even until quite recently. 

Another pic of him, it was windy, which kind of ruffles the feathers a bit.

Especially to get a good picture of something. Which is why I injured myself so seriously back in the fall of 2019, taking me 5 months to learn how to walk again. And I never did get back to where I was before that. Just to get a picture. Or sitting out among the flowers which are full of bees, getting stung 17 times. Just to get a picture. Well, several pictures in that case. 

Or lying flat on the ground, on my stomach, trying to get a picture of a small mushroom. And an animal comes up behind me and starts to sniff my leg. I knew by the footsteps it was not a dog. And I was in an area where bears were frequently seen. My heart was really thumping that time. But it turned out to be a deer, one that I knew who regularly came to visit me where I lived. 

Red-breasted Nuthatch squawking at another bird that also wanted to get at the food.

That was a relief. Or another time holding onto this small shrub so I could go over the side of a steep hill to get a picture of a mushroom once again. Under me was a lot of broken rocks, and the river. Just to get a picture. Because I live here now I cannot do those things anymore. Except maybe walking in the cold. However, I do not walk in the cold anymore. Oh well. 

Maybe I can find something else crazy to do. Or not. Oh, my long ago promised new list of characters for my Investigators, Inc. story series will finally come out today. I did not realize there had been so many changes since the last update. Keep it handy, it helps for following the story. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and God bless! 

Steve and Muffin. 

©2024 Steve McLeod.