Let's Talk About the Weather

Photo: PMcK, Flickr Creative Commons

This is a bit of a roundup, at least compared to my normal lengthy rambles on a single subject. By the way, go ahead and click the link on the photo attribution today. The guy takes some really good photos. This actually isn't the best one; it just seemed to feel cold to me, at least the type of cold I grew up with in the swamps of south Georgia.

Speaking of the cold, it actually has been cold for more than a week here in my little part of Georgia no one wanted until all the good parcels had been claimed. You know, malaria and all. We managed to get rid of the malaria, although the dog damned mosquitoes managed to stick around. They're just much less parasite-ridden these days. Anyway, we aren't really worrying about mosquitoes much these days, even if I was getting welts on my ass (I was actually fully clothed, even) back in late November. It's been more than a week since we've had a 24-hour cycle go by without sub-freezing temperatures. This weekend we didn't even see the mercury rise above the freezing point until well after noon each day.

Personally, this doesn't bother me. It was 25 when I woke up this morning and I forgot to even wear my jacket. It really didn't feel that cold. I usually enjoy cold weather. I'm like my parents' Great Pyrenees dog, just less furry. Instead of making me miserable, the chill in the air raises my spirits. Like me, the dog is just a sad white sack of misery in the summer, except she lacks the funds and vehicle that I take advantage of each year to travel great distances from the South. What does annoy me a little is my house's inability to deal with this weather. The central heating and air system actually does a good job. The temperature in the house is usually spot on to whatever temperature I set the thermostat. What sucks is the water system. We knew how to keep the water in the pipes from freezing. We just didn't realize that the electrical system was capable of freezing up. Ironic that while the water in the system stayed liquid, the electricity was the part that froze. Also, our hot water heater froze. We spent most of Sunday morning with plenty of cold water and no hot water. Oh horrible god of ironic misfortune, what did we ever do to offend you? Wasn't the sacrifice of five cute little bunnies dispatched with an antique fountain pen enough to appease you? I guess not. It's kind of hard to make live sacrifice ironic, considering so much of irony is accidental.

Moving on with no transition, I'm in great pain today. I played a tennis tournament this weekend. I played a three-hour match Friday night that I won and then lost to the eventual tournament champions Saturday in both levels I entered. I'm still not sure why I've been so sore the past two days. True, I took a couple of weeks off of tennis during the holidays, but it's not like I've had time to get that out of shape. I've played as much after similar breaks without experiencing any unusual pain, so I'm guessing that the cold had something to do with it. Only one of my matches was played at temperatures higher than 30. For the first time ever, my right arm is sore. I do use a two-handed backhand, but I've never had that arm get sore from tennis before. My thighs cry out for sweet euthanasia every time I have to stand up. It's a good hurt, though.