The past few weeks have flown by, but it's difficult to pinpoint what has made them go so fast. Andrew has started classes and work is starting to pick up. We had some absurd frozen rain on Thursday that turned all smooth, cool surfaces into ice skating ponds. My car had an absurd layer of ice across it (I think I posted a picture of that), and trying to get around the Aviary was like walking around on ice barefoot even though I had work boots with amazing traction on. Much slipping and sliding was had. Then this morning I woke up and found our house swaddled in a thick layer of fog. WHAT IS THIS? WHERE ARE WE LIVING?!
I decided to walk to work this morning. Something about the fog, and the quiet that it created, seemed very inviting. I am about a seven minute drive or 15 minute walk from work, and those eight extra minutes seem like an eternity sometimes, thus a car is taken! It was entirely worth walking, though. I'm going to try to make it a more regular thing, but this morning was special. It was very, very still. I couldn't hear cars driving by before they were 50 feet away. I walked past Liberty Park Lake, which was mainly frozen over and through the fog found a spot where the water was unfrozen and it was a mallard duck heyday.
It made me think, though--when we talk about weather, it is seen as the most inane of small talk. As I was walking I found myself small talking with myself. What strange weather. Warmer than it's been all week. Better than the terrible inversions we've been having. But recently I have been reading more environmental education literature to beef up my resources, and I can't help but think that there is something to weather small talk. Something about connecting with a single, guaranteed experience between people. Something about connecting to our surrounding landscapes and finding an unavoidable (if sometimes irritating) connection. I haven't quite worked it all out just yet, but it's developing slowly.
Andrew and I have been doing keto since the end of November. Just after Thanksgiving Andrew started, and I quickly followed. We have eaten a LOT of steaks, heavy whipping cream, eggs, sausages, cauliflower, cheese, raspberries, 80% dark chocolate, almonds, and coke zero. I am incredibly proud of us during this whole process, however. Neither Andrew or I has 'cheated' (eaten any sugar, flour, rice, or 'carb'y foods) this entire time. Holidays were especially challenging, surrounded by our favorite candies and cookies and homemade cooking, but we're nearly to February and are still going strong. Tonight we had low carb chicken curry (made with heavy whipping cream and riced cauliflower, among other ingredients that actually make a meal curry), and it was incredible. We're feeling a bit extravagant, so I'm going to eat some more parrano cheese and Andrew is cooking bacon.
BUT the point of that is that I am down 10 lbs, and Andrew is down about 35 lbs. I think it's made a big difference for us, and we're feeling pretty awesome. I look forward to the next couple of months.
Not only did the pups get their teeth cleaned, but they also got...seatbelts! You can see the pain of immense loss in Lucy's eyes as she mourns the ability to run around a moving car unleashed, but you can't see (or hear) them being thrown off their seats when we turn...because it isn't happening! Mwaha!
