Soundtrack in my head: Chapterhouse, “Pearl”
Do you remember that eighth grade science class demonstration where the teacher would have two bowls of water with hot and cold water respectively? And then the teacher would have students immerse one hand into each bowl at the exact same time. The result was trippy–your mind would momentarily be confused as to which hand was hot and which was cold and it felt like each hand was feeling alternately cold and hot at the same time until finally your mind cuts in and says, “Okay, okay. Left hand hot, right hand cold. I got it.”
Well, that seems to describe Wisconsin weather in the last forty-eight hours. Let me tell a tale of two 6:15 a.m. walks to Capitol Square.
Yesterday I had my heavy jacket, but it was open because it had to be about 63 degrees F and really humid. The lampposts along West Washington Avenue and Carroll Street had their lighted snowflake Christmas decorations, but they looked a bit weird and out of place in the steamy haze. When I got to the bus stop on the Square, I ended up ripping off my jacket even though I was wearing just a short-sleeved polo shirt. Waiting at the bus stop in the polo shirt felt perfectly fine to me. I got to work and three hours was surprised to hear co-workers talk about how cold it was. I stepped outside around noon for lunch, and yep, the temp had definitely dropped.
This morning, I had my heavy jacket, my hat, and a really warm goiter thingy pulled over my face. It was in the low 20’s and windy out, and as I walked across the frozen tundra, I could not help but think about the flash-freezing images in “The Day After Tomorrow.” Okay, so I have a bit of a vivid and overactive imagination, and so I had to remind myself that this is just winter in Wisconsin. A new career as a popsicle does not seem to be in the cards for the near future.
