New baby D pics have arrived and this is my favorite. Man, I need go see that boy again soon!

I read in the newspaper this morning that since July 1st, Portland has had only 11 days of rain. Can you believe that?!?! It’s been clear, sunny and cold here as this strange arctic air mass has descended over us and protected us from all storms. Instead of rain, we’ve gotten record setting chilly weather and bright winter sunshine. My poor roses have started blooming again and I’ve even seen a few very confused daffodils popping their head up. In response to this random cold air mass, Kevin and I have dropped the storm windows, reapplied that weather stripping and caulked all the cracks we can find. Our little house has remained nice and toasty warm and Kevin isn’t thinking I’m quite so crazy for buying two cords of wood this summer. There’s only one chink in our armor.

Artie.

Yes, that darn fat sausage dog must be part malamute because he LOVES the cold weather. In the summer on our walks, he totally poops out and will randomly run up someone’s front lawn and crash under their bushes, panting. During a normal Portland fall when we get rain, I make him wear this little raincoat which he hates and he spends the whole walk moping and trying to wriggle out of if. But now, the clear skies, nippy wind, and busy squirrels seem to invigorate him. All that fur and fat must insulate him very well because he loves his walks and never wants to come back home.

I, however, do not. I roll out of bed and look at the outdoor temperature that’s hovering around 30 degrees and shiver. My dog, meanwhile, is prancing around the bed, howling at me to hurry up. Muttering, I shove myself into a pair of sweats, a turtleneck, socks, sweater, mittens, hat and jacket. All of this is entirely too slow for Artie would runs around me in circles, head butting my legs to make me move faster. All too soon, I’m outside and miserable in the cold morning and the worse part are my ears. No matter what I do, my poor little ears get so cold it hurts.

And so today, as I’m being dragged around the neighborhood by my part polar bear pooch, I suddenly found myself thinking to my old my buddy Jean Chung. (As usual with most of my ramblings, you’ll need a bit of back story here to follow my thoughts.)

I spend my highschool years is sunny southern California where “weather” consisted of days when the marine layer moved inland and “cold” meant anything below 65. My winter wardrobe meant wearing long pants and a t-shirt instead of shorts. In fact, I had one friend who’s claim to fame was that he wore shorts all year round. Basically, it never really got cold.

But every winter, on those particularly chilly days when the temperature dipped into the low 60’s, Jean would show up wearing ear muffs. In fact, there was an actual ear muff outfit if I recall correctly. She had red sweat pants and a matching red sweater with a white stripe through it. The piece de resistance was red, furry earmuffs. No amount of teasing or ridicule would dissuade her. They kept her ears warm and that was good enough for Jean. I can still see her walking across campus, her long black hair held back by the earmuff band.

Now, when I walk my arctic dog in the freezing mornings, and I have lost all feeling in both ears, I can’t help but think maybe Jean was onto something. I’m not too sure where exactly one buys earmuffs but I’ve decided to get a pair. And to pay homage to the one who inspired me, I’m going to get a nice, red fluffy pair. So if you’re driving through the street to NE Portland and see a pair of red muff being dragged along behind a fat dog chasing squirrels, pull over and say hi. I mean, really, who else could it be, right?

Look out red earmuffs, here I come!