[Magdalen] ATTN The Scotts !!!

[cady soukup]

Scott - glad your anxiety is less than it was!

Remembering winters in the Chicago area in the 1950's and 1960's -

Elementary school: galoshes, snow pants/snow suit, parka, mittens
(with yarn "keeper strings" that were threaded through the sleeves of
the parka), scarf - all put on in a specific order and then taken off
in reverse order, kept on marked hooks in the "coat closet" the size
of a small hall at the back of the classroom, puddles of melted
ice/snow on the floor. The sheer agony of effort it took to move under
all that padding!

High school: same weather, fewer clothes and mini-skirts (fashion!) -
took some time for my legs to thaw out after walking to school.

College (U. Ill. Champaign-Urbana, or as my dad called it -
Shampoo-Ipana - he went to grad school there): the dorm heaters could
not keep up with the weather, the windows could not keep the weather
out, we had inches of snow on the floor and icicles running down the
walls. Walking between buildings was hazardous for smaller folks
because of the ice & wind - I rescued quite a few with my superior
bulk ... Luckily I had hand-me-down coats from my grandmothers (one
from each) that were fur (one was black seal fur with grey persian
lambskin at collar & cuffs, with a matching grey persian lamb hat).
There is NOTHING like fur for winter winds!

Cady
feeling positively warm at 7-degrees-fahrenheit in the Virginia foothills.


On 1/31/19, Scott Knitter <scottknitter at gmail.com> wrote:
> Still running the faucets here. The neighbors on our floor have giant
> icicles hanging off their gutter, which made me gasp as I remembered our
> icicles and ice dam that caused so much leakage into my office some years
> ago. But these seem to be on their side and not ours. No leakage here; I
> almost forgot about how much anxiety I used to feel every time we had snow
> and then bitter cold...good recipe for an ice dam if your roofing and
> ceiling insulation are bad. We were reroofed last year...here's hoping it
> all keeps the moisture out.
>
> Chicago's cold wave was well covered by German TV yesterday:
>
> https://youtu.be/aft63ihgGPk?t=722
>
> https://youtu.be/Nzp8KG5Jlqs?t=1641
>
> On Thu, Jan 31, 2019 at 6:57 AM Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Well, we can’t compete with Chicago, but it’s 7 degrees here!  Heat wave
>> in the 30’s predicted for tomorrow, though...
>>
>> > On Jan 29, 2019, at 10:03 PM, Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > 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
>> >>
>> >>
>>
>
>
> --
> Scott R. Knitter
> Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA
>