Hunkering Down

Everybody's talking about it... A topic that is usually reserved for those of the 'older' generation, even the youth can't help talking about it. And what is it?  The weather, of course, due to the 'extreme' cold. It hasn't been this cold since '96 in Wisconsin.  And they even did something unheard of that day, they actually cancelled schools in Milwaukee. Well in anticipation of Monday's forecast, Milwaukee has cancelled classes as of Friday.

Temps will continue to plummet as wind chill factors will take our area temps to minus, yes, -56 degrees.  How cold is it?  Our local ski slope area, Mt. La Crosse, has closed.

Finally Sunday La Crosse school officials called off school here for Monday. Busses would have difficulty running their routes to start off the upcoming school week and we wouldn't want frozen popsicle children either.

Both TV and radio have issued warnings of exposure and the possibility of frost bite within 10 minutes. It's that friggin' cold...


New meaning once again has been given to the phrase "to keep the home fires burning." Natureman has been extremely busy carting the wood from the wood pile to the back porch. As you can see, it is piled with a supply for the next couple of days.

The wind has been bringing in a new cold front and I kid you not, it is brutal. Natureman shared a frostbite story of his teenage days when he didn't want to mess up his hair so he didn't wear a hat. His ears let him him know that fashion statement wasn't worth it...

Anyhow he has been keeping both the wood stove and fireplace  stoked all weekend to continue to keep the house warm. We are toasty. Natureman prides himself in heating with wood. It's been a 'fulltime' job this past month and it's only January.

(We do have back up heat if needed with both floor and furnace heat.)


And don't worry, everyone including Romeo, is staying put as we are all 'hunkered down' here in the End of the Rainbow Valley.  Nobody is going anywhere in this frigid cold ...

Romeo's advice  : Stay warm!