A couple of Wednesdays ago we awoke to a morning blizzard that saw winds whipping the snow around at gusts up to 70 mph. It would have been a good day to stay home as the visibility was near zero, wind chill was measured far into the negatives, snow drifts were 6 feet tall, and every tiny gap in our otherwise air-tight house moaned with a low whistle every time a gust ripped by. Every elementary, secondary, high school, and university in the area was closed, along with many businesses. Night crews at grocery stores and Wal-Mart had to stay over because the morning workers couldn't make it in. But we've truely become "Yoopers" (UP'ers), and it was Wednesday and we weren't going to let a little frostbite keep us from our regular, and somewhat "religious" routine of attending Taco Bell for lunch. For almost 16 years members of our church have been attending an unofficial, secular Taco Bell Branch meeting every Wednesday starting at noon, MST (Mormon Standard Time, 11:30-12:15). But I guess this was a blizzard to test the strength of even the most faithful, for when we arrived Taco Bell was empty. Not only had the heretofore faithful members not attended at our regularly scheduled time, but not even the gentiles ventured out. No, we were the only attendees on that blustery Wednesday (was that a little too 'Winnie the Pooh-ish'? I don't think I've ever said blustery before). But, you should have seen the faces of the Taco Bell skeleton crew light up as we entered. We placed our orders, and the employees showed their appreciation with a little extra cheese here, a few extra beans there, and an extra scoop of meat in our tacos (drinks always come with free refills, or I'm sure they would have offered to let us drink gallons). We sat in our usual places and watched out the window as birds performed tumbling airborne acrobatics, and played "name that piece" as we identified pieces of larger wholes (roof shingles, siding, parts of chimney flues, etc) that went flying by in low visibility, all the time wondering what all the fuss was about. The realization that we've become adopted "cousin-marryin, tooth-missin, ice-fishin Yoopers" both scared us and made us feel a little unique, if not a little proud. "Ya, I noticed dar's a little bite to dah wind, eh? How about a refill of yer diet Pepsi, dar-eh?"
Wow. I haven't seen a winter like that in what, over a decade? The weather cooled down here in DC a couple days ago. But we've also had 70-degree weather (yes, that's plus seventy, not minus) during the last month.
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