Driftin', on a sunny afternoon. 1/7/10

We received another dose of Winter last night and today-more snow, sub-zero temperatures, and breath-taking wind. I believe today is a great counterargument for those codgers who say, "Winters were colder in my day." The codgers of the late 21st Century will long remember this one. "Dude, like 'member back in '10, that gnarly, like, day, when it was, like, really freakin', like, windy and stuff, and, like, cold?"
It was Fargo cold today. I should know, because I lived across the river from Fargo, in Moorhead, MN, for two years, while I finished my degree in Hyperbolic Sentence Construction at the State University there. It's one of the windiest places in America, in fact plastic grocery-store bags from Vladivostok, USSR would routinely be seen blowing across the palm tree-lined quad at Moorhead State. I mean, it was windy.
That didn't stop me from running whenever I needed to. Only hangovers did that. I ran four miles when the air temperature was 33 below zero. That was back in 1987, and I didn't have the benefit of the lighter, yet warmer, running clothing I have today. The strategy then was to put on two of everything. Long johns under sweat pants. A flannel shirt under my parka. Heavy crew socks under heavy crew socks. My roommates' size 13 shoes over my size 10 1/2s. It took me an hour to get dressed, about 40 minutes to run 4 miles, and another hour to get undressed when I returned, not including the time it took to chisel off the ice. I couldn't run for another week, because it took that long to dry out all that stuff. Nor could I go to classes during that time.
Today's 6-miler was run in 8:53 pace, on snow packed streets, through wind gusts of up to 280mph. I didn't wear a stitch of cotton, only bulk-free synthetics that wick moisture, and block winds moving at up to 281mph. I was as comfortable as could be, though I did worry about the economy of Egypt, now that running apparel has forsaken its most outstanding export.
One other thing. I tried again, and again unsuccessfully, to help push a vehicle stuck in the snow. My skinny ass arriving on the scene must be a bit of a mixed blessing for these desperate souls. On the one hand, "Alright, Dude. I could use the help." On the other, "Why are you out here in non-cotton running clothes? Do you even weigh a buck fitty?" But, I'll keep on trying. Maybe on one of these afternoons when kids are out of school-we never got out of school, even when it was 100 below-I'll find a conveyance I can move with my limited bulk. Maybe a little shaver whose Big Wheel got mired in snow up to the axel on some wind-blown cul-de-sac. I think that might have happened to me when I was a little tyke on a trike.
Thanks for humoring me.
P.S.: The 5 Greatest Inventions Ever
1. The Wheel (not necessarily Big)
2. Sugoi Windproof Boxers (not Evander Holyfield-he's a win-proof boxer)
3. Indoor Plumbing (so we don't have to go out in this to relieve ourselves)
4. Oranges (for boosting the immune system after stupidly running in the cold)
5. Yak Trax (for allowing me to pedestriate through streets plowed, and un.)