Sunday, another one

Da Bears are playing today and all activity in this house as we know it shall cease. I was unaware of Dave's passion for TV sports when we moved in together. He hid this information from me successfully during our courtship days. The men in my childhood home did not watch sports on the television set. The youngest brother went on to be a Packers fan, a family disappointment, but by then we were all teenagers and not paying much attention to him.  I grew up believing athletes were dirty and  impolite and  feeble-minded.

I am not complaining. I am merely reporting facts. To be truthful I do not mind the forced isolation in my schedule, I relish it.  Not being a particularly social woman this kind of marriage makes a lot of sense to me.  I am free to pursue my own individual criteria and Dave can yell at that screen all day, no inconvenience for either of us.  And that is essentially  my definition of a successful relationship, respect for boundaries.  And this woman came with a lot of boundaries. I'm not sure if men and women should live together.  A duplex living arrangement for both partners would be less complicated.

I am contemplating a long winter walk, at least a six-Kleenex one.  Winter walking can be hazardous to a
sinus condition aggravated by a 36-year-old former smoking habit and working in warehouse offices that had funny-smelling plumbing. It may look like a nose - what is in the center of my face - but it operates on the same line as a faucet out of control.

Dress for the second mile

I try to keep pace with the weather even when it's nasty because I don't want to turn into one of those weather agoraphobics who run from the house to the car to the mall and then back again. You've seen them.  They dress in polar garb to get the newspaper off the porch every morning.
 I am the all-seasons woman and I embrace the blustering winds trying to blow up my three layers of thinsulate.  I come from a family of exercise demons most notably my brother David who does Fatback cycling several hours every day on the frozen snowmobile paths after the sun goes down.  He is fueled by a blogger fan club that has him in their grip demanding more and more winter text.
I love winter,  I really do.  Its intensity amazes me as I walk these frozen roads and watch the lavender and gold sunsets that only occur in the stillness of a very cold afternoon.

Just a few months ago I was walking this same path in sandals, a gentle evening rain keeping me comfortably cool in the humid air and the sun still above the horizon  at 8:30 p.m.  Such extremes and yet we acclimate.