Skating Away...

Looking out my back door.

Rhode Island in January can have a cold, gray sameness from day to day.

The early snowfalls of December have long melted away. Of course, this year there wasn't much snow to speak of, a dusting here and there.

We did have a bit of snow since the New Year, again nothing more than a dusting.

But it has been cold, very cold.

Well, very cold for Rhode Island. Nothing like the subzero temperatures of my native Vermont when I was a kid.

I once saw minus-40 degrees, no need to indicate Celsius or Fahrenheit, it's the same in both systems. School was cancelled as it would have been suicidal to go out in such weather. Few folks had clothing capable of keeping one warm enough in those temperatures. We were Vermonters, not Inuit.

Bear in mind, that was the air temperature, there was no wind that day. Looking out of our house across the Black River Valley, you could see the smoke from the chimneys, going straight up to Heaven.

I've also seen some bitter cold days out in Colorado and in Nebraska. I swear, there would be two weeks, every year, where the temperature would plummet below zero and stay there, night and day. But, like clockwork, when the two weeks were done, the temperatures would "soar" back into the teens and twenties.

Heh.

Korea had some sharp weather when I was there. But as I was stationed on the coast, the sea tended to keep the weather moderate. You couldn't say the same for the interior of that small nation. Bitter cold for most of the winter, especially in the higher elevations. Only along the coast is it flat in Korea. Much of the rest of the country is all up and down.

Germany, along the Dutch border, was mild. Where we lived I think we had a heavy snow once. About ten inches as I recall. It didn't last.

When I was a kid, we'd see our first snow in October. Just a flurry. But by late November the snow was on the ground pretty much until March. Well, there was the "January thaw," a week of very mild temperatures when all the snow would melt and you could go outside with nothing but a light jacket.

Then the howling Arctic winds would bring more snow and the bitter cold.

At least that's how I remember it.

Trust me, I was a Master Sergeant.

I spent Saturday goofing off. Reading and watching some interesting programming on Netflix. If you enjoy history, you should watch The Decent One. The title is, to me, somewhat ironic, Heinrich Himmler was anything but decent. But the documentary is a good illustration of the "banality of evil."

I finished the book Unbroken. It was well done, left me very thoughtful. I'm not sure if I will go to the theater to see the film. Folks have told me that it's not very good. Which disappoints me. I had been looking forward to it. A friend told me that the scenes in the trailers are the best parts of the movie. The rest? I'll wait and see it on DVD someday.

Another day ends at Chez Sarge.

Night falls, the stars are peeking out.

I have been wrestling with personal demons for a few days now. Nothing serious, just vexing.

I may or may not tell one related story in the near future. That's one of the things I'm wrestling with.

While blogging is cathartic, it's possible to share too much.

We shall see.