Handkerchiefs and Snow

The lack of recent blogging has to do with an unfortunate cold/virus sweeping through my tiny house-hold. Perhaps I should have attempted to blog this week while deliriously fighting a fever, drinking Nyquil and swallowing Sudafed tablets. That may have made for some entertaining ramblings.

I must say that when fighting a cold, my attention diverts away from trying to lower my environmental impact. I noticed myself leaving some lights on, cranking the heat and of course going through boxes of tissues.

I do admire those individuals who carry a handkerchief to wipe their wet noses. However I wonder if these folks use them when fighting a pesky virus? That would be one interesting load of laundry, full of sticky handkerchiefs.

We are on the mend and feeling better around here and just in time for a delightful snow fall! Madison got 3-5 inches last night and it's still coming down. There were multiple instances overnight where one of us jumped from bed to peek out the window and see how things were coming. We woke early with anticipation and by 8am we were outside shoveling the driveway and sidewalk...hopefully without waking our neighbors.

I've only recently become so excited about the snow-season in Wisconsin, after finally accepting the fact that I live here....and not somewhere tropical. In the past I would walk around in the winter with a light weight coat and leather clogs, complaining about how cold and miserable I was. After some initial investment in some "real" winter gear and some awesome winter toys, I'm ready to play outside! Granted it took me almost 30 years to figure this out.

This afternoon Mike and I took a nice walk in the snow to the Babcock Dairy Store for some lunch. http://www.babcockhalldairystore.wisc.edu/
Babcock Dairy is the University of Wisconsin's Dairy Plant that is mostly staffed by students and covers 100% of its costs through the sale of the ice cream, milk and cheese produced. Unfortunately for us, the store doesn't serve lunch on Saturday, so instead we purchased some fresh cheese and ice cream! I suppose that is about as local you we can get within the city when it comes to cheese and ice-cream production. It's delicious, locally produced and within walking distance.

To the gentleman leaving Babcock this afternoon with two bags full of ice cream and an ice-cream cone in his hand - Right on man! It's never too cold for a Babcock ice-cream cone.