Hey guys.

So.

Well, I don’t know. Just haven’t had a lot to say lately.

Seems like all I do is talk about the weather, or how the weather used to be. I’ve always been ok with talking about the weather. Sometimes it really something to talk about. Most times it’s just a general acknowledgement by all parties that you wish to socialize on some level, but you don’t really have anything to say. That’s cool with me; I like socializing and also communicating without actually saying the awkward words.

But wow. Wow. There has been some discussion of the weather these past months. It is more than being in an environment where communication not directly related to work is a challenge. It is an overwhelming presence that has dominated the psyche of most Midwestern residents this winter.

Follow up:

First there were those football games. Brett couldn’t throw because it was so cold and so my day-to-day interactions became more bearable.

The replaced the WI state flag with a Packer flag outside of my office/plant during the playoffs.

Then there was all that snow on New Years. It was weird but whatever. Then I went to Florida for work expecting at least not to wear a winter coat. But there I was, on the beach, staring at a frozen jellyfish.

frozen jellyfish

The beginning of January was ok. I spent a week in Idaho where it was snowing in the desert, working inside of a blast freezer set at -14 F, but that was another situation all together. A bad time, but not solely because of the weather. Anyway, in the middle of January there was more snow.

And after that it was cold.

For a while.

The kind of winter we haven’t seen in years.* The kind of winter that would have killed the weaker Pioneers. A hard winter. I haven't seen the bare ground here since December 1st. Every weekend I wanted to drive somewhere else, anywhere, but every weekend it snowed or was so cold that it was pointless to leave the house.

I spent some time watching the river freeze.

I learned to gauge the weather by the surface area that was frozen and the smoke from the papermill stacks.

In between there were a a handful of good days. One was on a weekend and I golfed in the snow (holes dug into the ice with augers).

My work travel patterns have been recently sending me to the North-west corner of the state. Normally it’s not so bad. The drive is empty but scenic. County roads. You can tell by the hills where the glaciers stopped. The frigid winter air gives everything a crystal clear quality; you can see all of the edges, outlined in shadow. The cows huddle together for warmth. Ice forms unnatural sculptures. But the wind blows the car around like an air hockey puck. Whipping up the snow to create a frozen fog. It’s a treacherous drive, despite the incredible sunsets and moonrises.

I’ve learned about winter though. And you see things differently after a week in a blast freezer. I used to hate the cold. Hate being cold. I feared it. But I'm not afraid now. I still don’t like it, it’s still face, mind, and soul-numbing. You get to the point where you feel like the whole world is a heat sink, ripping your body heat and life force away from you as soon as you come into contact with it. But I’ve learned it’s not a thing to fear, only to understand and live in spite of.

I’m looking forward to spring though. This is unusual. For the past five years, I have actually dreaded the arrival of spring. In those years, spring was a time of change. A time for friends to leave. A time for decisions. This year, for the first time in a long time, spring is just a change in the weather. And I for one cannot wait to discuss.

*This has been Appleton's 4th snowiest year on record (since 1893). We have received 72 inches of snow this winter. More as I write. It will in all likelihood end up in second place, eclipsed only by the record of 91 inches, set in 1928.