We Survived the Cold

I don't like the cold. The older I get, the more I dislike it. I'm alright until it gets below 40 and stays there for days.

This last cold spell was especially difficult for me. In the part of Texas where I live, we are not used to sustained periods of cold. Usually, a cold front will come through, last perhaps a day or two, then move on. That's not what happened with this last cold spell.

The cold actually moved in about Christmas. Even though nights were cold and we had some ice here and there, the days usually rose above freezing. But last Saturday (see "The After-Christmas Lull"), a very cold spell moved in. On Saturday, the high was in the mid-30's. That night, temps dropped down into the 20's. From then until about noon on Wednesday, temps remained below freezing, including several nights in the teens. We're just not used to that in this area. Sure, we usually get a snow or two every year, but they are light and the snow usually melts right away. But this time, it turned cold and stayed that way. Even on those days around Christmas when the temps rose above freezing, the skies were overcast and gloomy, so it seemed like a pretty long spell of depressing weather to me.

During the week or so of cold temps -- including those times when the temps rose just above freezing -- we basically hunkered down in our warm and comfortable home. It's so nice to be retired and not have to get out in bad weather. I did get out one day to run some errands, but Donna stayed inside for about a week. She began complaining about "cabin fever" at one point. So, on Wednesday, we finally ventured out to a movie and a meal. The sun came out, and the temperature rose to about 50 or so. It was great!

By the way, the movie we watched was Jumanji. We felt like something light and comic, and this turned out to be a good choice. And best of all, I don't recall any bad language during the movie.

On Thursday, we emerged for our first walk in a week or more. It was great to be out in the fresh air and working our limbs. I'm arthritic, and I find that when I don't walk for a while (a week or more), then I have difficulty getting back into my walking rhythm. So we only walked about 3.5 miles, and afterward my legs ached. I'll slowly work up from that to my normal 4.5 or 5 miles before long.

On Friday, we did some shopping in the morning. For lunch, we stopped in at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant, What Da Pho. After starting with 2 spring rolls and their wonderful peanut sauce, Donna enjoyed a bowl of chicken noodle soup while I had beef soup with shrimp. Yum!

View of the lake from along a ridge on the Horny Toad Trail. If you click to enlarge, you should be able to make out the straight line of the dam as well as a travel trailer on a ridge in the right-center of picture.

The day was beautiful, and I wanted to get out. So, we drove to San Angelo State Park and took a short hike of 4.83 miles. We decided to put together a loop (clockwise) starting at the parking area next to the playground near the south entrance. We headed west following all or parts of the following trails, in this order: Horny Toad Trail, Nature Trail, and Lankey Lackey Trail. We then cut north along an old 2-track trail past an old restroom from the early days of the park (Corp of Engineer days) to pick up the Winding Snake Trail. We then followed this trail back east, ending the hike on the Chaparral Trail. You can see these trails on the park's Trails Map. The Horny Toad Trail is not named on this map, though it is shown on the map.

We came across this armadillo near the end of the hike. That is my shadow in the lower-left, so we were pretty close. He didn't seem to notice us at all until we got next to him to take the following closeup.

The little fellow was nice enough to pose for us by rearing on his hind legs.

It was a good little hike, but along a very rocky route. I ended up with blisters on both my big toes that evening, but because of the scenery, fresh air, and exercise, it was certainly worth it.