Since I moved up North, I have never felt this cold. Having Raynaud’s Phenomenon makes it difficult on my hands, tip of my nose and ears. Not all people diagnosed with Raynaud’s have trouble with their nose and ears, it is usually rare. That is why it is so difficult for me in the winter time. The numbness and pain that I experience is just plain BAD! I don’t wish it on my worst enemy.

Yesterday, we went out of town to our annual Christmas family dinner. The wind was blowing so much and my youngest daughter was driving. I was concerned that she wouldn’t handle her car well with the high wind. After the dinner, she and her husband wanted to take her dad and I over to Oglebay Park. Her husband had never seen the Christmas lights there. So for the second time in a week, I got to see the lights. We got out to go in some gift shops and the wind near blew us over and the freezing wind on our faces was almost too much to bare. When we got home, we checked the TV for the temperature and the weatherman said it was -12 wind chill. I bundled up in flannel PJs and still could feel the wind coming in around the doors to the house. We stuffed folded newspapers around the edges of the doors where the wind was pushing in. This helped very quickly make the house warmer with the heater on.

I woke this morning to a temperature of 4 degrees outside. It is -26 degrees wind chill. My family member had to return to work after a week’s vacation and went out to crank his truck. He ran back in the house shaking from the cold. I made hot coffee for him right away. He said he had never felt it this cold in the 9 years since we moved up here.

The residents in our area talk about the blizzard of 1978 where they were unable to get out of their homes for 5 days. They were snowed in up over their doors. I am glad my house sits up high enough so my doors are not blocked in, in case of a blizzard. I do worry about my heat since it is run by electric instead of gas. If we lost our electricity, we would have no heat and would have to go some place else if we had no other choice. My next door neighbor told me she has an old kerosene heater for “just in case”. Wonder how many years it has been since she has lite it.

Think I am going back to bed and get under my nice warm blankets. Be glad when this Arctic Blast is over, the weatherman is calling for near 60s by this Saturday.