Frozen Nostrils

Arrived in MI on a cold winter night of 8 degrees. With the windchill it could have been 20 below. With the first intake of breath, my nostrils froze together! I remember this. Invigorating! As I entered the car rental office the heat blasted me in the face, my nostrils melted open , I inhaled and everything in my nose began to run, to my horror! This was the beginning of the terminal sniffles. I do not have a cold- I have "the" cold. Where are the Kleenex? It is the first thing I reach for when I enter a building and begin to defrost. It is all coming back to me. It snowed a light dusting each day and I found the cold to be delightful. Knowing you will soon leave it makes it ever so much more charming. The Detroit river was frozen and closed to freighter activity. The view of the bridge lights doubled by the icy reflection is best viewed with a steamy cup of tea and a lap full of warm yarn. Yes, I miss the cold that necessitates a lap full of knitting and the inevitable afghan that resulted.

The next few days were a flurry of elder visits with my Aunt Marion, Grandma Helena and Papa Roy. Sunday was the baby shower for Rachael and Jeff. The future little boy Wenskay is being well incubated by his beautiful mother. She impressed me by opening gifts from almost 90 people while running around greeting, eating and meeting with 4 inch high heels on her petite feet! It pays to be pregnant in the frigid months, when everything stays contracted in an effort to remain warm. I forgot to photograph the hand knit gifts before I wrapped and delivered them. A blue sweater and hat, blue blanket, baptism sweater and assorted bibs with matching outfits purchased at the store.

Monday morning found me motoring up the freeway, north to the winter wonderland that stirs my heart. I pass over the Zilwaulkee Bridge and my pulse quickens. Civilization still lurks. It is north of West Branch (with the most wicked speed traps) where I truly come alive in my roots and love affair with my home state. The traffic thins to nothing, by CA standards. A 2 lane north boud interstate with deep woods, blue skies and rolling hills as far as the eye can see. I know that water in the form of lakes is never more than a mile in any direction. I am heading to Boyne City. Aunt Lois awaits with the best home cooking and an open bottle of wine. Good stories and lively conversation are guaranteed.

I am updating via her emachine. It is cool , but I can't figure out how to download photos. Heather where are you? Tomorrow I head south to Traverse City to visit Deb. The weather is predicting a massive blizzard (their words) to begin this evening and into tomorrow. Driving down will be harder than the trip up. Imagine this, CA people, I drove 250 miles in under 4 hours with 2 stops at both Starbucks I saw. I am having skinny vanilla latte withdrawal! You know that with 5-7 lanes it sometimes takes an hour to cover 20 miles.

Tomorrow I will set out like an explorer. I will be stocked with food and drink, a bag of kitty litter for traction, plenty of windshield wiper fluid, essential ice scraper and a full tank of gas. God help me to stay on the road and behind a snowplow.

Have fun at knitwits without me and stay tuned for photos of my beautiful finished Alpaca sweater. I love it. The next UFO is waiting at home and it will be a challenge. A blue linen and silk lacy vest started last year and set aside when I screwed up the decreases and frogged more times than I could handle. Off to the basket of forgotten projects. I am off to the buffalo liver dinner with roasted root vegetables. You can take the girl out of MI, but you can't take the MI out of the girl...