More Wild Weather

I went into town around 4 o'clock today while the sun was shining and white puffy clouds floated across the clear blue sky. I should have taken the warning from earlier that such skies mean nothing. An hour later I saw the horizon had turned gray and menacing. And I had to bike that way to get home.

Wind started to howl. Somebody's kite in the park went crazy, flipping end over end and I saw the guy with the string forced to give ground. The chalboard menus in front of pubs blew over. It started to rain and from there sleet and from there snow/rain. I now know such phenomenon is called a sleet shower.

Naturally I didn't have a hat or gloves. We've been having wonderful weather the last week - most days I wouldn't have even worn my coat. It was after five on a Sunday so every shop was closed and I had no more reason to stay in town. I biked home and the weather intensified. Snow filled the air and when I looked up I saw the wind driving it at me. My hands went numb on the handlebars. When I got out in the open, outside of the town center, the wind picked way up. I literally had to stand on my pedals on every stroke to make any progress. My hands were bright red and painful and I began to wonder if it was possible to get frostbite in a mere ten minutes of exposure.

When I arrived at the apartment I reached into my pocket to get the keys and found my hands really were numb in every sense of the word - I had no sense of touch! My jeans were soaked and I walked into the apartment. After twenty minutes the storm was over.