January 6 – “Very cool”

I have a special request for the blog today from Cailyn.  It seems that there is a mystery word she never has seen in here before.  She doesn’t think it is possible to use it in a story or a blog post.  Well, phooey.  That is just a direct challenge to me.  Not only can I use the word, I can also include it in an entire paragraph centered around it.  You know, about the same number of words before and after.  We’ll just see about that.

Special note … count the words before and after to discover Cailyn’s special challenge word.

It’s cold around here and getting colder.  There’s even talk around some circles (read here the Weatherbug ap) that we could get really close to the freezing mark tomorrow night … on the Island.  Now that is a major catastrophe as far as us Islanders are concerned.  That means I have to wrap up our exposed pipes and cover the faucets outside just in case.  That’s one of those weird chores that you put off doing until you need it (and we haven’t needed it for literally years here on the Island).  And then when you need it, the weather is just terrible enough to make you miserable while you prepare for weather that is guaranteed to make you even more miserable.  Are you getting the message that winter in Galveston is just not my favorite time of year? 

Speaking of cold, yesterday when we picked Cailyn up from school, the three of us went out to the playground for our usual after-school blow off steam time.  Cailyn and I went to the top of the slide together, because that’s where we start the timer for however much time we have at the playground.  Now, did I mention that it was cold?  At least I was cold.  Well, to be more specific, my fingers were cold.  I went up and down the slide about six times in our five minute window, and when the timer finally went off (five minutes seems like an eternity), I had very little feeling left in them.  I know some of that is old age and some is RA, but that just means I have to hang on to what little I do have.  I think Cailyn realized I was serious about the cold fingers thing, though.  Insisting she was not cold, she very quietly took my hand and held it as we walked across the field to the car.  Cool kid.  Not cold, but very cool.

Genesis 8:21-22 says, “The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: ‘Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.  As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.’”

Father, thank you for the cold days of winter.  If nothing else, they sure make me appreciate the warmth of spring and summer.  Amen.