So Chill

I don't recall just when I became such a cold wimp. Did it happen overnight, or was it a gradual thing? The fact is that cold is now more than a mere inconvenience for me, it's a pain!

Bundled at a football game fall 2018

Snowbirds - nickname for people who go south for the winter. My grandparents and parents were snowbirds - escaping Iowa in October, returning in the spring. My mother's parents, Nelle and Herb Morehead, actually retired permanently to a place in Dunedin, Florida. Dad's parents rented a condo (we'll use the short version of the word because my grandpa could never quite pronounce the full word, condominium (ninium, minum..?)) in the St. Petersburg, the Redington Beach area.

Weeks like the last few in Iowa have me daydreaming for warmer places. I love Iowa and our life here. But my bones (and other parts) are tired of being cold - she types with fingerless gloves on, covered with a heated blanket. 

Showing off in ski gear - 1970's Jennifer Deter, Vicki Behr, Steve Hauser - Breckenridge

Memory lane has me playing outside for hours, only surrendering to the cold when I couldn't feel my toes anymore. When we went to Sunnyside Park to ice skate on the flooded tennis court, they were wise to put heaters in that little shack - for a warm-up hut. I skied in cold weather before thin but warm fabrics were invented. Ski boots weren't warm and socks and mittens/gloves got better through time. I started in cotton athletic socks and woolen mittens.

Before schoolboards came to their senses and girls were allowed to wear pants to school, I walked to school in dresses. Sometimes we put pants on under, but you know how fashions are. In upper elementary school, that became "uncool". I remember rubbing my red frozen thighs to get them warmed up after the four block walk. Yikes!

In college, we sat at a few super cold ISU football games way back - before HotHands were invented. I remember thawing my toes out by a heat register. That is painful.

These days I'm much colder and smarter. I get cold just sitting at my desk or in my chair at home. Ugh! I envy those who are warmer blooded. Dare I say "hot" - yet they complain about being uncomfortable in their state too. There are pockets and people on 5th floor of the Wallace Building that are warmer. The rest of us bundle up. I plan ahead for where I'm going and the layers I will need. If I get too cold at events, I leave. (not work - haha).

Those who live and winter in the south are righteously trolling those of us getting nailed with winter weather. Sister Betsy who lives in typically moderate SW Washington has received an amazing amount of snow recently. They don't have snow handling equipment in that area. Seattle got some white stuff too. 

We are expecting more snow and more cold weather in the next week. It's a good thing we are hardy souls - with lots of layers! 

Back to School

This time of year brings back so many memories. Back to school. It wasn't until I was in my upper forties that I finally quit getting the feeling that I should saddle up and go back to school each fall.  Sixteen years of doing something must ingrain a habit.

Back in the sixties, Back to School meant two shopping trips. One to downtown Atlantic to pick up school supplies and shoes. How exciting to get a new eraser, paste, unused Ticonderoga pencils, notebooks and a big box of Crayolas. A trip to the shoe store would provide new PF Flyer tennies. I just knew I would run faster in those babies!

Kilpatrick's, Omaha

Then there was the big trip to Omaha for clothes. In the early days, we shopped downtown - all dressed up for the big shopping day. I remember the elevator operators in the big department stores. Evidently, the Kilpatrick's downtown was sold to Younkers in the early 1960's. Mom loved to eat at Walgreens. That organization seems to have cut restaurant out of their business model today. The patty melt was her fave. Every time I order one I think of her.

When our children were school age, Back to School was a big deal too. We would go to WalMart armed with our class list. New backpacks, binders, paper, pencils, colored pencils, glue, scissors - you had to get the right stuff. And we provided Kleenex and other classroom supplies. (It's funny but I don't remember how I wiped my nose during my school days. Sleeve?) Our clothes shopping trips were in Des Moines. Jud could have cared less, but Amy was into it. We made a day of it.

Fast forward to today. Our nephew's kids did all of their shopping online. New clothes came in boxes delivered to their front door. They didn't even have to put on their shoes get their new stuff. Just open boxes!

No matter how kids get their school supplies, it's exciting. A new teacher, a whole new year of stuff to learn. Time marches on. Right now the little tykes are already practicing football in the park across the street. Ah, the sounds of fall.