New Year's Eve

It's cold this morning, right now it's 11 degrees.  I just made several trips outside to the storage shed to bring in the boxes for the Christmas things, because today is clean-up day.  I almost didn't put up a Christmas tree because it is a lot of work for these 80-year-olds, but I'm glad I did because we really enjoyed it, and we had people over several times to help celebrate the season.  But now -- time to clean up!

This cold weather reminds me of growing up in South Dakota, walking to our country school in very cold weather, doing chores no matter what the weather was.  And then I lived in Winnipeg, Canada for 3 years and it was very, very cold there.  I didn't have a car, so I would take a bus to work -- first wait for the bus at the stop about a block from my house, then transfer buses on the corner of Portage and Main -- a 15 minute wait on the coldest corner in the city!  In a way winter in Winnipeg was like winter here -- the sun was usually shining in a cloudless sky so it would look beautiful outside, but it was really cold.  From there I moved to Madison, Wisconsin where we got lots of snow and cold weather.  And next I moved to Cleveland, Ohio where it was always gray and cloudy in winter.  I did not like Cleveland - either in winter or summer. 

But the thing is, when you live in these climates you adjust, you dress accordingly and you don't stop your life just because it's cold.  In Winnipeg little children would be playing outside every day, no matter how cold.  They would be totally bundled up so you'd just see their eyes and little nose, but they were having fun.  The older kids would be playing hockey in the streets, and even adults would be out with the curling brooms having on the ice and snow.  Tobogganing was popular.  It was a healthy way to live.

This weekend we will be getting warm temperatures again, the snow will melt and we'll be outside without coats.  That's how Colorado is.

2015 has been a good year for me.  I started January 1 with a resolution to lose weight, and to date I have lost 38 lbs and it wasn't even hard.  I still want to lose more because it feels so good to not carry excess weight around.  So my resolution for 2016 will be to continue with the weight loss, and also see about being able to walk better.  My arthritis has made it hard to do much walking, so I may have to see about consulting with a physical therapist or someone who knows what I should do.  Of course he'll just tell me to do exercises........