I Was Duped

As everyone knows, I live in the Heart of the Heartland.  That place that is otherwise known as Heaven (at least in the movies); Iowa.

We have had a particularly brutal winter.  It started early and is still going strong with lows predicted to be below zero again this week. Actually, they are predicting colder than normal temps for the entire month of March.  Sigh.

I am a summer girl at heart.  I crave the sun and the warmth that it provides.  I really should be living somewhere like Arizona. However, that is not in the cards right now, so I suffer through the long and dreary winters here hoping for Mother Nature to throw me a bone once and a while.  She has been very stingy this year!

Yesterday, however, was one of those beautiful winter days with no clouds, plenty of sun and barely any wind (that means it was less than 25 mph). We have had snow and ice on the roads for months, so I haven't done any walking outside; unless crossing the parking lot at the mall counts.

I decided to take a break from creating in the Bat Cave and take a walk in the glorious sunshine that was nearly wind free.  I would take my camera with me.  This would be the first time I have ventured out for a walk this winter.  It's been strictly treadmill time.

I should have remembered that just because the sun is shining in Iowa in February does not mean that it is providing any warmth at all.  Nope.  Not even a little.  I wore my long down coat, hat and gloves. Five minutes into it, my legs were going numb.  I kept on going (just like that bunny) and finally my face was numb.  And that non-existent wind was really just playing a game of hide and seek.  It found me as soon as I left the house.

I managed to snap a few pics before I had to head back. Next time I will check and see what the temperature is before venturing out.  Of course, if I did that no one would see me until May.  In Arizona.

This is what snow looks like after it rains over an inch and you have a couple of warm days.

Yeah.  That is frozen water-snow.

I turned around after this because I was getting a little creeped out.  It felt like I was in The Shining and Jack Nicholson was gonna come at me.

Ok, these are really creepy.