Thundersleet

A winter storm approaches. The city of St. Louis freaks out.

However, this storm looks to be bringing ice with it, which does not bode well for anyone - not even a native North Dakotan like me who's been through many blizzards and learned how to drive in disasterous conditions. So, freaking out is a good thing in this case.

That said, my inner survivalist kicked in. I packed up my cold-weather emergency roadside kit. The following are things that everyone should have within reach if they're traveling during a weather emergency:

-flares
-a blanket
-a flashlight (I have one but need batteries, which I'll be getting shortly)
-gloves, hat, mittens, jacket, socks (extra layering for warmth in case you get stuck)
-water
-energy bars
-phone charger
-ice scraper
-pocket knife (this goes with me on kayaking trips also...for cutting errant fishing line that can take you down)
-towel (if you get wet, gotta dry off to prevent frostbite)
-Lighter (melting snow)
-Red scarf (for tying to antenna for visibilty, alerts)
-Little first aid kit

They're taking about power outages. When that happens, I tend to turn up my heat an extra 5 degrees, which helps prevent the house from cooling down as quickly. I also make sure I know where my flashlights are, candles and lighters.

Good times on the horizon. We'll see how this all shakes out.

Runsicle

When I got home from work it was still daylight out, so I decided to get a quick run in while the sun was still peeking out. I hate treadmills, and they hate me. I'm uncoordinated so any time I get on one I say a prayer.

Anyway, growing up in North Dakota we used to run outside for gym, whatever the weather. Snow on the ground? Run. Snowing? Run. 5 degrees below zero? Bundle up and run.

But we were also young, and unable (unwilling?) to comprehend how damn cold that was. And we were fairly fearless, and just did as we were told. Survived. No harm done.

Now I'm an old fuddie, and 24 degrees is effin cold. I wore my Sugoi thermal tights, mockneck and half-zip, wool socks, a fleece ear warmer and a thermal skullcap, and two pairs of thermal gloves.

The only places on my body that were uncomfortably cold were my face and my left thumb.

Wha?

My face was mostly uncovered, that's on me. Balaclava next time.

But my thumb? I called my mom to see if I'd ever had frostbite or something close to it growing up. I don't remember, she didn't either but it seems that I may have, due to the sensitivity of my thumb.

That's never happened before.

Guess I gotta break out the ski gloves, 'cause I'm not forkin over dinero for a third pair of gloves.

Weirdness.

Either way, I got a solid three miles in. Bam.