Southwest Polar Vortex

Bloggers across the country are writing about the polar vortex-- the bitter cold, the power outages, the forced misery of life with children stuck inside for days on end because of prodigious amounts of snow and dangerously chilly daytime temperatures. Wind chill of 30 below, anyone?  I can at least say that I know the chill of this weather first hand.  The years we spent in Maine and Massachusetts contained more than one "storm of the century." I'm not exactly sure how that's possible, but that is the way I remember it, so it must be right.  

Here, we have projected highs in the 70s, and the girls have been happily back in school since yesterday.  I had to put the kids in long sleeves and jackets today, not to mention shoes with socks. There is also a small chance of rain in the next few days, and you know how messed up things get when it sprinkles.  I mean, the girls might have to take umbrellas to school, and then I'll have to listen to how they'd rather get wet than be embarrassed by using their Dora umbrella.  It's still perfectly good though, and we use them so seldom, that I am making them keep it until it doesn't actually keep rain from falling on their heads.  

As an act of climate solidarity, I put some chicken in the crock pot to make a batch of enchiladas and some chicken tortilla soup.  I figured we could do with some warm comfort food too. After all, our high temperatures may be in the 60s, but our lows are dipping into the 40s, with, you know, a wind chill of, probably less than 40, if it ever gets windy.  For Scottsdale, Arizona, that's a polar vortex, baby!

Feeling like I could do even more, I baked a cinnamon bread pudding with salted caramel sauce and promptly ate two bowls full.  I did find that pretty darn comforting.  Otherwise, I got nothing.  But hey, check back with me next August, when we've got record highs, and the weather people are apologizing for the streak of over a hundred days above a hundred degrees.  Then you can enjoy a couple of bowls of ice cream, you know,  in solidarity with me.  


Snow picture from here.  Phoenix metro forecast from here