Really cold weather and January go hand in hand where I live.
Last winter, they weren't dating--it was mild. This winter, the heat has been turned down in the relationship. Not that it's been terribly cold--but "terribly cold" to me is when the low falls to about -30F (-34C). It hasn't been that bad, but lately we've had high temperatures below zero and some lows down to -20F (-29C).
When it gets really cold like that, the snow sort of talks to you when you walk on it. It says "Scrunch!" I've never walked on fields of Styrofoam, but if I ever did, I imagine it would sound a lot like that--scrunch, scrunch, scrunch as you amble along.
The subzero weather also frosts many of the windows. Like the door to our office. Here is what it looked like last Saturday morning ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Wfeset08-Icydoor-1-08.jpg[/IMG]
And here is the frosty lock. It still worked, by the way, but it was cold to turn ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Wfest08-Icylock-1-08.jpg[/IMG]
Regardless of the weather, one of our local communities held its mid-winter celebration last Saturday, with a number of events, both indoors and out. I didn't get the chili cookoff assignment, but the Cardboard Classic was deemed right up my alley.
The Cardboard Classic is a sled race that uses cardboard boxes (which are later burned in a big bonfire). On this day, the temperature never even made it to zero F, but the sun was out, the wind was minimal, the kids were out and so was I. Scrunch, scrunch, scrunch.
So were the groomers for the snowmobile trails around town ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Wfeset08-Groomers-1-08.jpg[/IMG]
The first step for Cardboard Classic participants is walking to the top of the ski hill. Scrunch, scrunch, scrunch. Here are some of them ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Wfest08-uphill-1-08.jpg[/IMG]
Note that nice-looking pencil-shaped sled in this picture. You'll be seeing more of it later ...
Races were held in a number of categories, mostly split up by age. The process was the same for most races: Climb to the top of the hill, wait for your race, try to stay warm, get in your sled, push off and hope for the best ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Wfest08-RacestartA-1-08.jpg[/IMG]
One key factor is that cardboard boxes don't come equipped with a steering mechanism. Something they overlooked when designing them, I guess--not much call for them. Many of the kids going down the hill just wanted the ride, so they were entirely inside the sled--not dragging legs or arms to steer themselves. Chaos sometimes ensued.
For example, take that fine looking fire truck in this picture. No rotating red light or siren, but it looked pretty awesome going downhill ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Wfest08-Firetruk1-1-08.jpg[/IMG]
... until it hit a rough patch and flipped over ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Wfest08-Firetruck2-1-08.jpg[/IMG]
It's crazy at the start of each race because the cardboard sleds are going every which way. Several times, I had to jump out of the way ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Wfest08-RacestartB-1-08.jpg[/IMG]
Sleds pointing downhill were suddenly pointing uphill. Like this girl, who passed right behind my legs ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Wfest08-Backwards-1-08.jpg[/IMG]
The pencil sled finally got its turn to show its stuff and started sliding downhill. But we all know one thing about pencils: They have a tendency to roll ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Wfest08-PencilA-1-08.jpg[/IMG]
Like this one did ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Wfest08-PencilB-1-08.jpg[/IMG]
And in the end, the pilots of this sled had to become pencil pushers ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Wfest08-PencilC-1-08.jpg[/IMG]
Others had to push their sleds, too, if they had too much weight to glide easily downhill. Sorry, girls...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Wfest08-pushers-1-08.jpg[/IMG]
Eventually, though, everyone managed to get to the bottom of the hill ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Wfest08-Downhill-1-08.jpg[/IMG]
They also had some snowboarders ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Wfest08-Boarders-1-08.jpg[/IMG]
And sledders ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Wfest08-Sledder-1-08.jpg[/IMG]
Eventually the races ended and I went home. But I returned that night. It may have been nearly -10F (-23C), but they were going to shoot off some fireworks, and I didn't want to miss that.
First stop, though, was the bonfire, which was blazing brightly. It was fueled, in part, by the sleds that had made the run downhill that afternoon ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Wfest08-bonfire-1-08.jpg[/IMG]
My wife came along, but she opted to watch the show from inside the chalet at the bottom of the hill. But I didn't want to take my pictures from inside a window. I had to be out in it. And I was. The show was worth it ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Wfest08-FireworksC-1-08.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Wfest-fireworksB-1-08.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Wfest08-fireworksA-1-08.jpg[/IMG]
So what if I got a little cold? I had some freezy fun.
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