The first cold, clammy day of autumn always reminds me of why my forebears fled the Emerald Isle for Americay. It wasn’t so much the Limeys and the Prods as the weather.
Doesn’t help that Herself is enjoying a weeklong vacation on the Big Island with a gal pal. Beaches for her, bitches for me. ‘Tis not at all the same thing.
Of course, last time I went to Hawaii the locals endured a volcanic eruption and a tsunami. Maybe it’s better that I stay put. For them, anyway.
Mad Blog Media 
I hear ya! Skipping winter entirely last year via our exit to Italia has me reeling at the cold and wind blasting out of the north. We’re stuck here on the soon-to-be-frozen plains of Iowa until mid-December, so I’m hoping to get used to it again quickly…but right now it seems a long way off before we can enjoy the holidays in SoCal followed by an escape to Sicily in mid-January. I’ll be getting that winter bike out soon I suppose. BRRRrrrrr!
You are not lyin’ Laddy
Should be bitches from me, no?
Went downstairs to brew up some coffee and see that the outside thermometer is reading 35 degrees, plus a considerable wind chill. Yikes.
To be more specific.courtesy of Uncle Sam (maybe mittens would kill the NWS along with Big Bird)
Humidity86%
Wind SpeedS 12 G 21 mph
Barometer30.17 in
Dewpoint31°F (-1°C)
Visibility10.00 mi
Wind Chill27°F (-3°C)
Last Update on 7 Oct 6:55 am MDT
K, we warmed up a tad — into the lower 50s, I believe — but I didn’t get out to enjoy today’s greatly improved weather. I’ve almost always worked Sundays and I’ve almost always hated it, especially since I went free-lance in 1991. It sucks to watch people enjoying a sunny October day from your office window as you bang away at the keyboard.
15 F. was our low this morning! It DID warm up enough by 3 pm to crash around on the MTB’s in the local park clad in just a long-sleeve jersey and thermal knickers, so can’t whine too much, especially with a vegetable risotto cooking and a bottle of Prunotto’s 2008 “Fiulot” Barbera d’Asti open for Sunday dinner.
Hey, Larry — my fave grog shop was light on Barberas (barbarians), but I did manage to coax a 2008 Casalone Barbera del Monferrato out of the slackers. Very flavorful and surprisingly low on alcohol at just 13 percent. We had a 15 percent Côte du Rhône a while back that nearly caused me to regrow my hair. This was a pleasant change of pace.
Monferrato is where our HQ is. Needless to say, the wine list there is loaded with wines from this little-known region. Most of ’em are in the 12-13 percent range, very enjoyable for the entire meal. I don’t understand the 15 percenter’s reasoning that every bottle has to be some “blockbuster” that knocks you on your ass – I want to taste FRUIT, otherwise I can just drink the coolant out of the van’s radiator. Glad you liked it…should have a couple of cases of Michele Chiarlo’s Barbera here in a day or two, courtesy of a friend who’ll haul it down from a store in the north for us.
If the ethanol content is too high, that means I might drink less of it before I slide under the table. Here is to the thirteen percenters….