[Magdalen] ATTN The Scotts !!!

[Grace Cangialosi]

My father’s family was in Fargo, ND, and I can remember getting notes from my grandmother where she would say things like, “Well, it got up to 13 below yesterday!”

My grandfather died there in February, and the day of his funeral it was well below zero. That was the first time I heard that they can’t bury people in the winter there; they have to store the caskets until the spring thaw! I think my grandfather was buried in May.

> On Jan 29, 2019, at 9:39 PM, Chad Wohlers <chad at satucket.com> wrote:
> 
> Even here in northern Vermont we never have highs of -11F. Lows, yes indeedy (it was -12F last night and it’s been down to -22 this month). 
> 
> But right now it’s 17F (that’s *above* zero!) – however, were expecting about 6” of snow to tonight to add to the 3 feet or so already on the ground. Pictures of our winter wonderland may be found at https://www.flickr.com/photos/cwohlers
> 
> Chad Wohlers
> chad at satucket.com
> Woodbury, VT    USA
> 
> 
> From: Scott Knitter
> Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2019 8:11 PM
> To: magdalen at herberthouse.org
> Subject: Re: [Magdalen] ATTN The Scotts !!!
> 
> 7pm CST: Temperature in Chicago is -1F, wind chill -22F.
> So that's -18C, wind chill -32C.
> 
> Max temp tomorrow (Wednesday): -11F. Wind chills tonight down to -60F. I
> think at some point Fahrenheit and Celsius converge, or maybe it's just
> that below a certain point on both scales, it just doesn't matter.
> I'm running the bathroom faucet on a dribble (with a plastic cup placed
> sideways beneath it to lessen the noise) to help prevent the pipe from
> freezing. May dribble the kitchen faucet as well, and the bathtub too.
> Furnace has fresh filter and I'll set it down a couple of degrees for the
> night so it gets some rest occasionally. Would be no worries if we still
> had the hot-water radiator heating. Still got the neato old radiators in
> each room but the system behind them is long gone. We used to have to warn
> people not to burn their left leg as they used the loo. LOL
> 
> On Tue, Jan 29, 2019 at 12:39 PM Scott Knitter <scottknitter at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> BTW, they're saying five minutes to frostbite once the wind-chill warning
>> goes into effect at 6 p.m. CST today, and throughout tomorrow. That means
>> it's even dangerous to go to the local market on foot without covering
>> every bit of skin. Goggles would be good. Glad I won't need to make that
>> short trip.
>> 
>> On Tue, Jan 29, 2019 at 12:35 PM Scott Knitter <scottknitter at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> Right...One of the joys of full-time telework (and there are many) is the
>>> ability to work even when somewhat ill or when snowed in, as long as the
>>> data pipes don't freeze. :)
>>> 
>>> On Tue, Jan 29, 2019 at 11:40 AM Lynn Ronkainen <houstonklr at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Glad you're safe with provisions! Wish it were a day off for you as well
>>>> but I'm thinking not : (
>>>> 
>>>> Stay warm! It's unseasonably cold here but no freezing yet. I'm amazed
>>>> at some of the temperature variations all over the country.
>>>> 
>>>> Lynn
>>>> 
>>>> On Jan 29, 2019, at 9:27 AM, Scott Knitter <scottknitter at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Hi from Chiberia! Here cometh the Polar Vortex. <ominous chord>
>>>> 
>>>> I did trudge the two blocks to our nearest supermarket last night to get
>>>> some potentially essential provisions: a frozen pizza, mac & cheese,
>>>> pancake syrup, sliced gouda, and high-fiber cereal. And a freshly made
>>>> Bosnian cheese-filled pastry thing (like a spinach pie only without the
>>>> spinach, I guess). Obviously I did not run my shopping list past a
>>>> nutritionist. But I feel prepared not to leave the house until at least
>>>> Thursday. Cats have enough food, wet and dry.
>>>> 
>>>> Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the historic record-low wind chill day. The
>>>> lowest
>>>> I can remember experiencing is -56 while a student at Michigan State U in
>>>> East Lansing. There was something so essential I had to brave the wind to
>>>> walk a block to the Mini-Mart convenience shop. Can't remember what;
>>>> perhaps generic chicken franks? Rum? Cans of Tab? Anyway, that level of
>>>> wind chill defies all thicknesses of sweaters and multiple shirts and
>>>> undershirts. Not to mention the exposed bits of my face. But I did have
>>>> to
>>>> expose my eyes to see where I was going, at least periodically.
>>>> 
>>>> Won't be venturing out in that tomorrow. I pray for any who have no
>>>> option:
>>>> no place to go, or heaven forbid a fire or something that requires
>>>> evacuation. But the city is doing a great deal to make warm places
>>>> available: every police station, 66 field houses in city parks, off-duty
>>>> CTA buses, libraries, our neighborhood's wonderful indoor park/gym (The
>>>> Broadway Armory), and I'm sure more will open up as needs arise. Some of
>>>> the kinder bus drivers are amenable in such weather to bend the rules a
>>>> bit
>>>> and pick people up who wave them down, even if they're not strictly
>>>> standing at an officially marked bus stop. Actually, I hope they all do
>>>> this. (Normally, even in torrential rain, a driver will point to the
>>>> stop a
>>>> block ahead and make the person run to it if they want to board, or wait
>>>> for the next bus...a few do have more mercy than that, but some draw the
>>>> line sharply either because they're a-holes or because of safety concerns
>>>> with nonstandard boarding points.)
>>>> 
>>>> Anyway, lots of school closures (the Chicago Public Schools are waiting
>>>> until tomorrow to close...I'm sure they'll get angry responses from
>>>> parents
>>>> about being open today). Current conditions: 1 degree Fahrenheit; wind
>>>> chill is minus 16F (what it feels like in the wind).
>>>> 
>>>> Thank you, Mike, for thinking of us Scotts here in
>>>> soon-to-be-historically-cold Chicagoland!
>>>> 
>>>> On Tue, Jan 29, 2019 at 7:09 AM M J _Mike_ Logsdon <mjl at ix.netcom.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>>>>> It's 3:30 am here, so you might already be in the thick of what's
>>>> being
>>>>> predicted for Chicago "tomorrow".  -51 degrees !!!<<<
>>>>> 
>>>>> I must have misheard.  But still, damn cold!
>>>>> 
>>>>> M J (Mike) Logsdon.
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> Scott R. Knitter
>>>> Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> --
>>> Scott R. Knitter
>>> Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Scott R. Knitter
>> Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA
>> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Scott R. Knitter
> Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA
> 
>