Back in Khaki

I call my outfit in this picture "A Song in the Key of Khaki"

First things first–everybody simmer down and prepare for me to lay some knowledge upon you.  Remember I talked about this frigid winter we’re having here?  The one marked by the mysterious haze in the air?  First of all I previously referred to this phenomenon as the “Hamatan,” which is how it sounded to me.  I was wrong.  The other day I asked Bridget if it was a Twi word.  Twi is the most widely spoken language in these parts besides English.  She laughed at me and said it was an English word.  It sure doesn’t sound like it.

But damn it, she was right.  Although it was pulled from Twi some time ago. The Harmattan is a strong wind that blows southward over the Sahara, and that haze in the air is dust from the Sahara!  Crazy!  That explains how it can be so hazy and also bone dry.  If you’re more educated than me on the subject, this isn’t news to you.  Either way we all deserve a gold star for our learnedness!

Ok now time for me to get even more real about this crazy winter weather.  Honestly, there were a few mornings where I thought, “Wow, it’s getting chilly!”  How cold was it? When did I start considering it chilly in the States?  It had to be getting down into, say, the mid 60′s right?  72 is my standard comfortable room temperature as I recall.

The seasonal low has been 77 degrees.  I don’t know what’s going to happen to me when I return to a land of snow and ice.

Along that vein, Bridget and I cleaned out and defrosted the freezer the other day, and had a big bucket of “snow”.  In the ensuing discussion and inevitable snowball fight, I learned that Bridget has very little tolerance for cold.  Bridget isn’t what you’d call soft either.  The other day she stepped on a nail and her friend Josephine was helping her cauterize the wound.  This involved opening the cut with a match stick, pouring palm oil onto the blade of a knife, heating the knife and oil on the burner, and then inserting them both into the wound.  From what I can tell, it wasn’t an enjoyable process.

Why share this gruesome story?  Because she was even more agonized when I put ice down the back of her dress.  Ok I’m exaggerating.  But make even the slightest threat to bring her in contact with ice and she’s out the front door and the front gate before you can close the freezer door.  That’s no exaggeration.

It seems that our Internet access is improving as of late, so I’ll be updating more often.  Also I can’t take credit for any of these pictures.  Mandy had been so kind as to lend her skills to me for the moment.  Can’t wait until my camera gets here.  More importantly, can’t wait until my parents get here!  They’ll be arriving in just over a week!

Just one last thing: