Is that you Winter?

(fear not, these are last year's pictures!)

I was hoping, foolishly, NOT to be the first one to post of winter. But, seeing as I do live in one of the coldest places on earth, it shouldn't come as a surprise.

Wikipedia informs me that in fact, my city is the COLDEST city on EARTH with a population over 600k. I think that also means we're the craziest population on earth. I mean, winter starts in October with the first snow and ends in April...but I HAVE experienced snow in mid-May. To make you just FEEL how cold it gets here, in 1996 (yes, I was around) with the windchill it felt like -70.78 F (57 C).

THAT is why riding outside in the winter here just doesn't really happen.

And THIS is probably my favorite quote:

Spring and fall tend to be rather contracted seasons, each averaging little over six weeks. In general the weather during these seasons is highly variable, and rapidly changing. For example, temperatures in Winnipeg in April have ranged from −26.3 °C (−15 °F) to 34.3 °C (94 °F), and in October from −20.6 °C (−5 °F) to 30.5 °C (87 °F).

Hence, we had super hot weather last weekend (86 F or 30 C) and today I had to scrape the frost off my windshield (below -1 C or 30 F). It seems as though our 6 fleeting weeks of Fall have already passed us by...

And Winter is staring us in the face.

Last week the nights started to cool and I had tossed a sheet on Moon. When I peeled it off a couple days later, I was surprised to find clumps of hair on it. Yes, he was losing his summer coat and getting ready for winter already. It's kinda sad.

Today, I had to pack a jacket to take to my lesson. I thought about grabbing some gloves and earwarmers too! The one thing I didn't have, was a new saddle.

: (

'Cause I'm still waiting. The fellow agreed to the price and said he'd send me the paypal info so I could email the money over...and I haven't heard from him since. That was Monday night. I'm hoping he's just busy or having trouble getting a hold of his friend with the paypal account. Not that he's bailed on the deal. *sigh* I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

In the mean time, I'll switch back to my medium-wide gullet and try my best. I didn't get out to the barn yesterday despite my resolve, as it was beyond cold. There were crazy strong winds whipping out of the north, and there's ZERO way Moon would have paid any attention to me since we ride in wide open prairie. Never mind the fact that I'd have an awful ear ache and be freezing. Nope, I wussed out. We still managed 2 practice rides since our last lesson, which is better then nothing. After the way I was pushing him last week, I'm interested to see his attitude today.

Let's just say I'm hoping he's not as frosty as the weather!

14 Days until the big move, just 2 weeks to go till a warm barn and sheltered arena.