I slept ok getting up at 7am to do the cbi thing and then back to bed. Sleep came hard after that. I’ve got a problem with my right eye. I accidentally touched the corner of it the other day and since then it’s been aching causing me some grief. I mean not a severe ache but letting me know it’s there. There seems to be a bit of blood in the white area under the lid. I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. The big story of the day is our changing weather here in Edmonton and the rest of the Prairies.

Finally the coldest day of the year, so far. January comes in like a lamb and out like a lion. February is usually our coldest month of the year. This is the first time this winter that the daily temperatures at this hour have dropped to -20C in the middle of the afternoon. At the time of this writing (2:20pm) it’s -22C out there and the wind chill is -33C. So, I decided to head out to test my camera in these cold conditions and I took a couple of shots for you guys. Lets you see Edmonton weather first hand.

This is not typical of Edmonton in the winter mind you. Usually temperatures hover around -8C and if there’s no wind, it can be not to bad out there. You could go around the block for a little jaunt and break up a sweat even. I recall in the 1980’s here, we’d get cold snaps that would last for weeks. -26C would be normal. Occasionally we’d get a -10C break for a few days and I used to think that was warm. After the break it’d be back to the cold snap. January and February would be like that. But Spring would come early as well. By mid March the snow would be gone.

This week we’re supposed to be in the deep freeze again. I don’t mind that so much because I’m waiting for maybe 5 minutes for the bus out there. I feel bad for drivers that have to get out there and scrape the ice off their windshields and snow off the roof. The first rush hour after a blizzard like this can be tough going for drivers. For me it’s the walk across the parking lot behind first Edmonton Place that can be the most challenging in weather like this. There and back. We’ll be having a week of the deep freeze and by this time next weekend, the long range forecast calls for -16C. By the time I’m ready to go into the next Lodge meeting where we should be back to normal temperatures. We could get another cold snap in February and another one in March. I recall a couple of years ago Anne and I walking up to Kelsey’s on her birthday. March 16th and there was no snow on the ground what so ever. This was only a couple of years ago. We would walk to Kelsey’s and there were strong winds that day. I think there was a biting wind chill as well coming back that Monday afternoon.

So much for the weather. After brunch I’m back to work on H. Hopefully if it goes well, I can get a couple of scenes done this afternoon evening. Maybe even get some practicing in as well.

This is kind of interesting. At the NHL All Star Skills competition, our own Shawn Horcoff of the Edmonton Oiler’s won the fastest skater category. That makes Shawn Horcoff the fastest skater in the NHL. I don’t know if that means anything but it at least looks good on paper.

Anne wants me to stay home tomorrow because of the weather. But the gang is at Xl today working on the phones. If they can go in today, so can I for tomorrow. It’s no big deal. I’ve got a warm winter jacket and a toque, I’ll put my hood up and move fast.

Anyway, that’s all for now.

e. Jim