It’s cold outside.

It’s cold out.

I don’t usually mind the cold weather, but it is bitter cold. It is sunny out, I’ll give it that. But anytime the temps fall below 10 degrees, that’s freakin’ cold!

I’ll have to go out at some point to try and get my photo for today, but I have a few ideas. And being it’s been cold, I might finally be able to get the shots I’ve wanted to get!

Anyway, this lazy Sunday is a good one to catch up.

I’ve fallen behind on this disc golf project I’m working on (and I want to be able to announce some stuff about it here in a week or so), so I’m going to spend a few hours working on that. I’m also trying to build up some blog posts for here, so when I get that writer’s cramp and don’t have a good topic for the day, I have something to fill it in. Basically, that means I am working on a bunch of the Day Zero Project things that I can do now so I have posts ready to be published.

One big reason for this? It’s cold outside.

For those of you who don’t blog, it can be difficult, at times, to come up with topics for posts. Though the readership for this blog isn’t at the level of some bigger ones, I still feel like I need to have things here on a regular basis. Though the bulk of my readership knows what they are getting with me, sometimes it’s nice to throw a curveball or two and do some new and exciting things.

I’ve done a few things in the past months that haven’t gone as well as I had hoped — such as more journalistic type things (see the series on hiking). The hits didn’t come despite me trying to pull people in from that niche. So I wonder how worth it is to do things like that. We shall see in the future. Comments, too, rarely come it seems, unless I stumble upon or find a good topic that people seem to get fired up about.

I do have a hit counter associated with the site, so I realize people are stopping by. I just wonder what they think!

I bet if they are in the Northeast, they are agreeing with me on one thing — it’s cold out!

I was reading on a local disc golf board that people were playing today. Ice, snow, cold. Sheesh! Are they nuts? I have played in cold weather, but this is frigid. No way. Have fun throwing cold plastic in freezing temps! Yikes!

Apparently, something bloggers will do at times is just ramble. The post doesn’t necessarily make a lot of sense. But they do it. Just like they were talking to you, the reader.

I always wonder if the blogger is on something. Or if it’s done on purpose.

Maybe both.

Or, maybe, they are cold.

Did you know the weather can do crazy things to a mind and body? It’s true. I read it on the interwebs — it’s true. It’s damn true. Everything on the interwebs is fully true.

Seriously.

Anyway, there are blue skies out. That’s false advertising. Sunny, too. Doesn’t the sun produce warmth? According to the website “Grit,” apparently not so in the winter:

Just because the sun is out on a winter day does not mean it is warm. In northern climates, the coldest days are usually the clear ones – no clouds to hold in what little heat may be radiating away from the earth. A wind chill rating of minus-25 degrees Fahrenheit or lower can cause skin to freeze (frostbite). If it is that cold out, make sure all exposed skin is covered – except your eyes, of course.

Allow me to check weather.com…

At this point while writing this post? NINE DEGREES OUT! Feels like?? Yeah — MINUS 10!!

That’s downright frigid.

I will say this — if I was outside right now and didn’t have any gloves, my fingers would be cold. And, even without money to purchase gloves, I’d like to be at the Southside Mall in Oneonta right now.

Why?

Well, one reason would be because I could hang out inside and be a mall rat. But truthfully?

Because of what I saw there yesterday:

Something tells me whoever left them behind wishes they had them!

Brrr!

This winter, we’ve been spoiled. Some cold weather here and there, a little snow. But for the most part, mild. I don’t have too many issues with cold. It’s usually welcomed.

Not frigid weather though.

If that’s the case, send me to Alaska, where I’d expect this stuff!

Mild winter so far, yes.

Now?

COLD!

I can’t complain. It’s been a winter that has treated us decently well. But Mother Nature is showing she’s still in control.

I got a text from a softball teammate today and it said:

Softball season yet?

Unless you are preparing to play with penguins and Eskimos, then the answer would be no.

Of course, I responded with:

Sure feels like it.

And the answer I received was even better (I had to type it exactly as was typed or it doesn’t give it the right feel!):

Needs to hurry the f up already. im dreaming bout it.”

Some of these guys think about softball all year. I can’t blame them. Maybe the thought of the game gives warmth when it’s so freakin’ cold out. Though I can’t imagine making contact with a ball using an aluminum bat right now. Ouch!

It’s frigid out, by the way. (It’s warming up, though, it now currently only feels like a balmy -9 out).

It’s time for a little “Did you know?”

Did you know water temperature, body size, body fat percentage and movement in the water each play a part in cold-water survival. Small people cool faster than large people; children cool faster than adults. (PFDMA.org)

Great.

So that means if I’m lost in the wilderness with a few others and I’m a bigger guy than them, they become Popsicles before me, thus making me freeze longer.

Sheesh.

As I sit here finishing this blog post, I hear a dog yapping a couple blocks away. I’ll give one guess as to why it’s barking non-stop. It’s cold. Just like anyone else stuck outside on a day like this.

As for me?

Time to head out and find a photo for my 366 project. I just have to find the right shorts and t-shirt to wear…

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