36 Hours

I dislike the 36 Hours in.... series in the New York Times travel section for many reasons.
1. They are not often a place I want to go. They are usually cities and not the countryside

2. If I really wanted to go to a place, I would plan to spend more than 36 hours there.

3. The emphasis is on running from one thing to another as fast as you can. Savoring, bumbling around or "doinking" isn't an option.

Charles Isherwood addresses that issue in the opening lines of a recent post:

Trying to sample the pleasures of some cities over a weekend can be a bit like entering a pie-eating contest. Sounds like a madcap lark, but after a while you’re likely to feel overstuffed, foolish and maybe a little sick. Sure, you could do Paris without the Louvre, but why? Even negotiating the fabled museum itself in that time frame would be a challenge. San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, poses no such problems. 

So I guess the trick is to choose a "less worthy" site to "do" in 36 hours.. or stay home.

How to Stay Warm

Isn't it funny how when you feel cold, you can't ever remember being warm and then when you're warm you can't remember being cold?

Here are some things that you can do to stay warm when it's 15 degrees outside for a week and it's 55 in the house.

- wash some dishes in hot sudsy water

- work with your laptop in your lap.

- go to the library and read a book

- do something creative that takes your mind off the cold like editing a picture (not needlework cause your hands are too cold for that)

- cook something, better yet, bake something

- go shopping

- clean a room really well

- try very hard, when you are tucking your long underwear tops into your long underwear bottoms not to touch your back with your very cold hands.

- wear thick wooly socks and thick soled shoes

- drink hot tea. Hold hot tea

- find some place to go in the car (visit a far away friend, preferably one who lives further south)

- do some yoga stretches

- eat some hot oatmeal for breakfast and hot soup for lunch

- hug your dog

Photo Credit: MarsuMic via Compfight cc