Hooray for subzero!

Wow. I never would have thought I'd hear myself say that. . .

Over the weekend it rained. Sunday night I took the bus downtown for a meeting, and as we left the coffee shop, the fine rain had left a thin glassy layer of ice on the pavement that nearly had me falling down a couple of times. So I was glad I didn't have the bike. I actually enjoyed the chance to be lazy.

Then the next morning I looked outside. Slush, drizzle, mushy edges on all the roads, and the weather forecast saying something about freezing rain and temperatures between a couple of degrees over and a couple of degrees under freezing. Well, I could have taken the bike. Frankly, I just didn't want to. I was still okay with slacking off and being lazy. Sure, I've got rain gear - but it was cold and decidedly un-pretty out there. And unpredictable. So I caught the bus.

But then Tuesday I woke up to actual snow. And I had to take the bus: really, if there's going to be a few centimeters coming down I don't want to have to negotiate that, plus hidden hummocks of ice underneath the concealing layer of snow where it's been petrifying all winter, plus the general loopiness of traffic in this town when the weather gets bad. Plus no assurances anyone would have cleared the canal path. So, once again I found myself standing around waiting for buses, peering at bus numbers through the forest of heads, choking on cigarette smoke, shivering, wrestling with bags, cramming onto buses and being admonished to "keep moving back please..." Not to mention trudging all over the East End looking for someplace that would sell bus tickets so it wouldn't cost me $3 just to get home.

Suffice to say, I was pretty much done with being lazy by the time I got home last night. So when I woke up this morning to the kind of brisk, clear sunlight that tells you it's got to be below -5, I was pretty happy. There was a goshdarn spring in my step while I pulled on my wool tights and mittens for the ride to work.

Yup. I'd much rather bike over dry, rock-hard ice in 20-below than slog through slush at sort-of-maybe-not-quite-freezing. I'm actually looking forward to Friday's predicted -15.