No new tricks for this dog

I am at the start of my third winter in El Paso. It can, and occassionally does, get very cold. Normally winter hovers in the low 40's but today we are mainly in the 20-30 range. Or as I call it "finally feeling like winter." It only took until the first week of December. My life has been Chicago to Syracuse to Lansing to El Paso. To quote Sesame Street: "one of these things is not like the others!" In part that is fine as I like snow but don't really like being cold. However, the first 30+ years of my life I lived through *winter*. Weeks on end with no sun, 3-4 foot high piles of snow, sub-freezing temps and below 0 wind chills. You know, winter. I cannot, therefore, really comprehend when the city shuts down because is sunny but 25 degrees or the weather is predicting an inch or more of snow. To quote Bill Engval "hang on, I can still find my golf ball." I am not being meladramactic when I say the city shuts down. I mean if it even threatens any kind of snow the schools either close or have a two hour delay and city hall literally closes for the day! I frickin' wish! I remember once in high school that the sub-freezing temps knocked out the power and they still kept us for a few hours "in case." So I think that no matter how long I live here every year when I hear of closings and a list of 15 accidents on the radio because there is a light falling of the teeny little pellet-y snow, I shall always have the look of a dog listening to a high pitched sound and think of the many times it looked as if I was living in a snow globe. Or what it is like for it to be no big deal to stop feeling parts of my body because I was out for an hour at night shoveling.

On (another) side note: I had mentioned a while ago about the Good Housekeeping seal on the soy sauce packets. Well, I have another one. On a individual use packet of mayonnaise quothe"for best flavor refrigerate after opening." I'm all for not being wasteful but if you use so little of your condiment packets that you consider taking them home to use later you just have problems. Sorry, the truth hurts.