The Snowflake Chronicles

The Wind

12 Sharaf 163 B.E. - Thursday, January 11, 2007

The wind is blowing today. Predictions are for freezing the next three or four nights. It’s really winter here in Vegas. I think I’ve complained before about the weather, the cold. It doesn’t freeze a lot, but it did in December 2006 and now again in January 2007.

Right now, Rusty is setting on a table in front of the living room window. Her yellow, rust colored fur is glistening in the sun and the black fur is shining. She looks like she set under a dripping water pipe and the rust from the pipe stained her fur, that’s why my sister named her Rusty. She cleaning herself right now, but predatorily looks up from the process. When she looks up, she looks toward the door from the entrance hall into the living room. The wind is causing the mail slot to move and make noise, like the postman putting letter through the door. This noise seems to disturb the cats. All of them sniff around the front door on windy days because of the noise the mail slot makes when the wind blows.

I haven’t been out yet, but I know the wind chill factor is low. The normal temperatures this time of year is between 55 and 60 degrees, but the temperature today is supposed to be 53, so that makes the wind chill factor somewhere between 40 and 45 degrees. It’s definitely winter coat weather here. There is snow on Mount Charleston and the other high peaks around Las Vegas. The ski lodge on Mount Charleston has all the slops open, not that I’m actually going to go snow skiing. I’ve never been snow skiing, but it’s not something I’ve ever wanted to do.

The snow sports I like have to do with throwing snowballs and building snow people. Of course, I haven’t built any of those in a long time. The last time I build a snow person was … I can’t remember when. My brother called last week, the one living in Colorado and said he went snow skiing and a few days after he called the governor of California broke his leg snow skiing. My brother is a little young then Arnold. In fact, I think Arnold S. is about my age.

I don’t think it’s going to snow in the valley. Most likely all that will happen is a few fountains on the strip freezing and tourist getting some neat ice sculpture pictures. It doesn’t snow in the Las Vegas valley very often. Some times the high neighborhoods in the city get a light dusting of snow, but the most we ever get in the valley is frozen plant and water pipes. Usually the water pipes don’t freeze here unless they are above ground, but you can’t always depend on that. Back in 1992 there was a big freeze here and water pipes busted in many of the wealthier and newer homes. The pipes were in the ceiling of some of the houses, so when they busted they flooded the entire house. Apparently, water rained down into some of the living and dining rooms of the houses.