Well … it was sunny and bright outside when I left for my walk, so that was a plus, but the temps and wind-chill factor were just brutal. It was once and done on the perimeter path as the ferocity of the winds travelling across the open spaces was not making for a pleasant walk. I ensured my Park pals got their treats I took for them and then I soon skedaddled to walk in some residential neighborhoods where there was some protection from the wind. At least it was dry, but as I walked I could not help but think about the homeless people who, if they are not fortunate enough to bed down in a shelter, must sleep on the concrete sidewalk, or perhaps beneath an expressway. Plus, they must spend the entire day out in the elements with just the clothes on their back. I feel for their plight. I heard the WJR meteorologist say that the weather in Fairbanks, Alaska was milder than in the “D” – and that’s not just Detroit … he was also talking about Dallas!

I walked in different neighborhoods for some variety this morning and noticed not very many people had decorated yet, and I’m not talking about the electric extravaganzas either … many homes I passed didn’t even have a wreath on their door and nary a bow or glittery holiday decoration was to be found sometimes for several houses in a row.

I saw a few people bringing home their Christmas tree atop their vehicle. I wonder if they cut their own or just went to a tree lot to pick this year’s tree? Years ago I worked with a couple of sisters and the first Saturday in December the entire family travelled to a huge tree farm to get their respective family trees. The annual trek for the Christmas tree had been a tradition in their family growing up and they continued with their own families. They made a day of it … bundling up, driving many miles into the country, then going deep into the woods to find the perfect tree. They even had to bring along their own axe to fell the tree then trundle it back to the car. They took Thermos bottles of coffee and hot chocolate and stopped enroute for fresh donuts to take out with them to the woods for a makeshift picnic amongst the conifers. I was envious of their tree tradition every year when they spoke about the fun they had.

We had a real tree when I was a toddler, then silver aluminum trees became all the rage and my parents opted for that “look” instead of a real tree. I thought the aluminum tree was gaudy looking with its blue bulbs and matching revolving blue floodlight. If you lived in that garish silver-tree era, you either had the blue combo (which looked like a Kmart Blue-Light Special) or a red or green bulb/floodlight combo. Some people went all out with multi-colored bulbs with a multi-color revolving floodlight. Well, in the dark they were stunning anyway. It had some drawbacks in the assembly as well. When you put the tree together, it had very straight branches and they did not bend and handling those silver stick-like branches left your hands all black and it was hard to scrub them clean. The stick branches had to be put in the exact holes per the guide or the tree would not be shaped correctly. But the manufacturers probably made a killing on them and everyone I knew had silver trees at their house in the early 60s.

I only walked four miles today, but it was four miles more than if I had stayed home, and once I had a couple of sips of steaming hot coffee and the furnace kicked on a few times, I felt as cozy and warm as if I had stayed home in my polar-fleece PJs.