Getting Through This Winter

[Chizit]

What are some small things we are doing to get us through the rest of this godforsaken hellhole of a winter? Being met with -20 wind chills as I walked out the door this morning was almost enough for me to lose all hope.

I caved a few days ago and got the MLB At Bat app and have been listening to Cubs spring training games in the afternoon. Any other winter I wouldn't have gotten it this early but it is a reminder that relief is hopefully close. Also created a warm weather playlist for when I am working outside, hopefully by the end of the month.

Heavy drinking is a given btw.

 

[HitItHard58]

Winter is usually really hard for me and I typically go into a nasty funk pretty much right after Christmas but this year has been different. I remember thinking back in early February how much better my mood had been and was feeling really good about myself. Fast forward to now and I'm hanging in there but worried that might not last much longer. Diet, exercise, keeping up with way too many podcasts, WAY too many shows and movies, work, and family has gotten me this far. Little booze here and there helps but if it gets real bad, I need some of that jazz cabbage to keep the blues at bay.

 

[Cyclonepride]

My standard mechanism is to remember on my bad days (or weeks) that they don't last any longer than the great ones (which pass all too quickly). Lately I've been watching the 10 day forecasts for a glimmer of hope though lol. Sounds like it will be changing to a closer to normal weather pattern at the end of this week, and that will feel fantastic.

 

[brianhos]

It is sad that I am getting excited for 30's towards the end of the week. Gonna stay cold for a while there is a lot of snow to melt before it can get warm. Actually hoping for a few weeks of 30s so we can melt this crap slowly.

 

[BirdOfWar]

Winter is usually really hard for me and I typically go into a nasty funk pretty much right after Christmas but this year has been different. I remember thinking back in early February how much better my mood had been and was feeling really good about myself. Fast forward to now and I'm hanging in there but worried that might not last much longer. Diet, exercise, keeping up with way too many podcasts, WAY too many shows and movies, work, and family has gotten me this far. Little booze here and there helps but if it gets real bad, I need some of that jazz cabbage to keep the blues at bay.

I hadn't heard the term jazz cabbage before and it's quite hilarious.

 

[jbindm]

February is done, so the hard part is over for me. We always get a handful of nice weather days in March and it's tourney time.

 

[awd4cy]

We’re almost to the end just have to hang on. It’s nice knowing that normal high is close to 45 now and keeps going up all the time. At some point soon we are going to have a day or 2 closer to normal and melt a lot of the snow in a hurry.

 

[geewago]

I heard on the news this morning about so many places are having record cold temperatures. Some states have received more snow than ever recorded. Many have set low temp records and a lot of places have set records for x amount of days under freezing temperatures. Makes me wonder why the most popular thread on this forum seems to be the one about "Global warming Deniers" It just goes on and on. God told Noah when he stepped out of the ark that there would be seed time and harvest, heat and cold until time ceased. I trust Him more than Al Gore. I would think Iowans would too.

 

[Clonefan32]

I honestly think this is why it's easy to get so worked up about Iowa State basketball. Every day is Groundhog's day when it's this cold. Wake up, go to work, come home, eat dinner, sit on your ass for a few hours, go to bed. Iowa State games are about all that break up that monotony, and makes it sting even worse when they lose.

 

[CycloneSarah]

I've started looking for any excuse to go for a drive when it's sunny out. Friday afternoon was full sun so we drove down to Galesburg to try Iron Spike Brewery and soak up some rays from the sunroof.

 

[cycloner29]

Spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday doing these. I use LumberJack Competition pellets for everything now. Sorry, the white you see at the bottom of the brisket pic is actually the glare from the kitchen light.

Cured the pork loin in brown sugar and real maple syrup for 7 days. Five hour of smoke and 150 on them and now I have Canadian Bacon.
Really nice flavor, sweet and smoke flavor.

Did wings also. Marinated in hot sauce and sriracha first, then added my sweet BBQ rub. Sorry no pic as wife and son cleaned them up and left me with 4! Little zing and sweet. 3 hours on the smoker with them.

Brisket I separated the point and the flat. Pic is of the point. 14 lb brisket probably took off around 3 lbs of tallow and fat. Smoked for 8 hours. Temp was -8 out and windchill was in -20. Set up wind break and with some adjustment temp wise on the WiFi app and with the grill was able to maintain steady temps.

 

[Cyclonepride]

We’re almost to the end just have to hang on. It’s nice knowing that normal high is close to 45 now and keeps going up all the time. At some point soon we are going to have a day or 2 closer to normal and melt a lot of the snow in a hurry.

Yeah, last time it was 45-50 degrees for about 36 to 48 hours, my entire yard's snow pretty much disappeared (and there was a lot of it then too).

 

[1100011CS]

Last year we went to Mexico in Feb. Should have gone this year.

 

[jsb]

Up until the 18th, I was dealing fine. Then I hit my personal wall and I have been over winter. I don't think it is the amount of snow we've had over the entire winter, it's that since the middle of January, we haven't had a break. We've gotten a ton of snow and when it has not been snowing, it's been so freaking cold. We haven't had a couple of days in the 40's like we normally have. At this point, I'm not trying to deal with it, but just trying to get through it.
I will say that having a good basketball team makes it somewhat easier.

 

[isutrevman]

Take up snow shoeing or cross-country skiing and you'll look forward to winter.

 

[jcyclonee]

We are going to the Caribbean this week. To get us by until then, we're laughing about the fact that it's supposed to snow 4 of the days that we're gone.

 

[VeloClone]

I spend a half hour or more outside "cleaning up" the driveway, sidewalk, storm drains and mailbox access. It often doesn't need all of that, but it is a good excuse to get outside and get the heart pumping.

Of course the days when it really needs it I am spending a lot more than half an hour.

 

[VeloClone]

Take up snow shoeing or cross-country skiing and you'll look forward to winter.

We probably would have gotten CC skis for the family this year if our oldest hadn't blown out her knee last fall.

 

[CYdTracked]

The people who are really feeling the hurt right now are livestock farmers. We have some friends in Northern Iowa who have about 150 head of cattle and the snow pack is so bad there they said they are running out of room to put the snow and the snow pack is so bad in some of their lots the cattle are basically walking in the feed troughs right now. On top of that they are in the middle of calving and some days it's fighting to make sure each calf has a chance to survive once born with some of these below zero temps and snow storms we have had.

My parents are calving out 17 head of cows right now too which is a lot more manageable, 7 done but they started Feb and had to keep a lot closer eye on theirs with the weather as you can usually stretch your checks a bit when it's around 40 than when you have a bunch of snow pack and single digit temps where minutes sometimes can be the difference between life and death. Have seen or heard some other stories from cattlemen in the Midwest about the trying circumstances they are dealing with right now including some long nights and trying to catch a nap in the pickup sometimes in the middle of the night. Some of them probably have lots and farms at other places than their main farm house where a foot of blowing snow can make it impossible to get to for awhile if they weren't already there before the storm.

One of my friends manages some hog confinements and he shared some photos of one of their spots in Jewell last weekend that got hit hard by the blowing snow. One of the barns had a drift up the roof and had buried the doorway and ventilation fans. Kind of gives you a new perspective how while it may be a pain in the ass to clear your drive and sidewalks in town things could be much worse. Like everyone else I will be glad to get some spring weather but the snow melt is going to make a muddy mess and probably some flooding concerns for people too. It's been a pretty brutal winter!

 

[Tri4Cy]

Take up snow shoeing or cross-country skiing and you'll look forward to winter.

This. Embrace the suck. I took up hobbies that require the cold/snow. XC skiing, snowshoeing, fat bikes, etc. Even when I want it to be spring and warmer temps...I'm still occupied when it's ****** out.