Monday Morning Musings
Posted on February 18, 2019 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet
Scarfing one down
“The answer my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.”
Blowin’ in the Wind. Bob Dylan
“If you’re going to look like a dork, I’m not walking with you.”
This is hardly the stuff one might expect to find in a Hallmark card on the cusp of Valentine’s Day.
Some of you might recall that a week ago Sunday, we had extremely high winds and bitter temperatures. After a long day indoors, my wife and I decided to brave the elements and go for a short walk. I can’t remember it being this cold in a very long time so I decided to layer up and this included a rarity for me – a scarf.
I can’t remember the last time I’ve worn one. Come to think of it, I’m not certain that I’ve ever worn one. I poked around the closet and found one that was very plain. No fashion statement with this one. I wrapped it around my neck and tied it in a knot. This “tying the knot” (not to be confused with one’s wedding day) rendered one end of the scarf long and the other quite short. This is when my wife delivered her verdict on my appearance. With the temperature hovering around -25, I wasn’t expecting the sidewalks to be crowded with fashionistas.
I was asked to remove the offending object and this time, she tied it to make me look less dorky. She commented much later that I actually cut a dashing figure as we exited our apartment to face Mother Nature’s fury.
It was brutal outside and it was hard to keep one’s head up. About 1.5 kilometres into the walk, we turned the corner heading up Brookland Street. We were now feeling the total brunt of the wind causing eyes to water. I grabbed for my scarf to pull it up over my face only to find it no longer around my neck. I turned around and it was nowhere to be seen. We may have been inclined to turn back anyways but this gave us a convenient excuse to re-trace out footsteps. We walked slowly back home looking carefully in all directions. The scarf had vanished.
As mentioned earlier, the streets weren’t crowded. Actually, we didn’t meet a single soul on the outward journey and one lone college student on the trip back home.
I was more puzzled than anything so I decided to go back over the route one more time, checking both sides of the streets on which we had trod. I looked in bushes and trees and even under vehicles. If anyone had been watching they may have wondered if I had misplaced the crown jewels.
The good news in all of this is that the scarf did not come from Mills Bros. in Halifax. In fact, I was told that it was purchased at Value Village for $2.00.
I also coined a new word last week. I have serious issues with weather forecasting. Actually, it’s not so much the accuracy and veracity of forecasting that irks me but the hype by the media when bad weather hearkens. Any hint of foul weather (can you say winter?), brings out a litany of messages designed to increase engagement at media outlets. “Huge system coming our way”, “Blast of winter to hit the Maritimes”, or “Major winter storm to wallop the region” are all catch phrases (Thanks GMD) which encourage people to tune in to their favourite television or radio station.
Whenever I hear these dire warnings, I want to scream “Flake News.™
Have a great week.
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