Polar vortex

1/27/2014--I don't think I've mentioned it, but we are in the second round of a winter phenomenon called a "polar vortex." If you live in a news vacuum or in Florida and haven't heard of this, it is when cold air which usually resides in Santa's workshop decides to visit the rest of the country. As a result, we have been living through record or near-record low temperatures. And that means we have spent a lot of time at home. I am thoroughly enjoying this forced retreat (and living in complete denial that as educators and students, we all will be enjoying an extended school year to make up for these lost instructional days). My husband and I have been venturing out on our cross country skis, in part to make up for missing daily runs, and also just to get outside and try to pretend that winter can be fun, too. Yesterday, the temperature hovered around 30 without windchill and we were able to spend about an hour and a half exploring the woods and canal near our house. I have to admit the woods were lovely. And dark. And deep. We came back refreshed and invigorated.

So today, we tried it again. Except today was not as kind as yesterday. The wind was bitter, and the snow was so dry, we just slid around on top of it instead of gliding. I'm not even going to add "gracefully" because nothing I do on skis looks graceful. But there was definite gliding yesterday. And not today. We made it about 5 or 6 blocks from home and then had to admit defeat and turn around because we were so cold. My hands hurt so badly by the time we got back, I was kind of whimpering and shaking. My thumbnails still hurt as I type this almost 7 hours later so hopefully I haven't done permanent damage. We got inside and my husband announced that he was going to walk to our corner drugstore while he was still dressed because he wanted to get a few things. "Oh, I'll come too!" I chirped. Because I'm a quick learner. So we bundled up again. This time with boots, winter coats and hand warmers. It was much more pleasant the second time around. We got to CVS and immediately headed for the liquor aisle. Because we have found that comfort food is necessary during a polar vortex. I will say that I when I was a little girl picturing my life as a grown-up it didn't include me in the CVS liquor aisle asking Siri whether cake flavored Smirnoff is vegan.  It is. Or probably it is.

Unfortunately, the chocolate chips at CVS were not vegan, and since it was only one block away, we decided to extend our walk and visit our town's natural food co-op. I have the same reaction walking in to this store as I did walking into Whole Foods. I found the Japanese sweet potatoes that I'd been looking for, vegan chocolate chips and a new creamer to try in my coffee (soy milk, since I have discovered that I really like the soy cappuccinos at Starbucks).  I also finally decided to become a member of the co-op since I see many more shopping trips there in my new vegan future.

Home again, with a cup of coffee with my new soy creamer. I am loving it, although I will have to wait till my morning cup to decide whether that is because of the creamer or the shot of Smirnoff that I added to it. But for now, life is good, the house is warm and I am enjoying planning my comfort mushroom risotto for dinner.