Delightful!
Posted at 5:03 AM on January 13, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(37 Comments)
Oh the weather outside is frightful
But your smile is so delightful
And since we've no place to go,
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
Such a happy little song about supposedly "bad" winter conditions. But here in the frost belt we know there is no such thing as "good" or "bad" when it comes to the climate. The weather is the weather. A cheerful song can't give the sky special permission to release snow, nor should it.
Bemidji and Thief River Falls hit -31 overnight. It was -26 in Fargo-Moorhead, and
-12 in the Twin Cities.
On a day like today, a song could make itself useful by reminding you of the real peril of deep cold, or by offering a solution, or at least by saying something more meaningful than "Let it Snow."
That's the sort of lyrical puzzle that rattles around inside a guy's head when he's outside at 9 pm, chipping away at that mound of ice the municipal plow deposited at the end of his driveway.
Oh the weather out here is brutal
I'm afraid your birthday suit'll
Be inadequate underwear.
Please beware, cover your derriere.
Oh the weather outside will chill ya,
In a minute, it could kill ya.
Don't go out with those parts exposed.
Layer clothes, layer clothes, layer clothes.
Oh the weather outside is nasty.
It'll frost your rhinoplasty.
Those extremities can't go bare
In the air, in the air, in the air.
Oh the weather out here is frigid
It's so cold my breath is rigid.
Exclamations freeze in my mouth,
Let's go south! Let's go south! Let's go south!
So ... how do you cope with the deep cold?
Comments (37)
G-G-G-G-Good M-M-M-Morning (is it??) I'm sipping, well, gulping hot cocoa and waiting for the plow to come by to block the end of my driveway. If it were a weekend, the shoveling and blowing would wait until late Sunday, and I'd lounge around in layered fleece PJ's. But today is a workday with Federal auditors here from Washington DC, and the state budget due by Friday, so I'll be braving the cold with Sorels, down coat, hat (hat-hair!) and layers upon layers - functional, not fashionable.
I googled Chi-Lites to find the name of a song I wanted to hear (Oh, Girl) but lo and behold, they also have a song, "The Coldest Days of My Life", which doesn't ring a bell with me. Do you have it?
Gail,
We do have the Chi-lites in our system with "Oh Girl", but not "The Coldest Days of My Life".
Too bad. But if "Oh Girl" will warm you, we'll deliver it.
well, up here in "zone zero," as gardeners are fond to call it, it's minus 22 on the "warm" thermometer. we debate on a degree or two but then the animals, who are out there, probably don't care. it's cold. i've got the fleece jackets by the door, ready for the goats when i awaken them and they stand from their cozy nests they've made for themselves in the deep straw bedding. the chickens just have to eat, eat, eat. i put four pounds of suet in the coop last night and lots of "layer mash" so they can stay warm.
Dale and Mike, please play a warm song - maybe something by Dr. John to help us think about New Orleans - but your pick. Or the Beach Boys tune listing all the warm places to go - "Bermuda, Bahamas, come on pretty mama".......
thanks so much for coming out in the cold and driving thru the weather to entertain us.
Looks like we gals in WI are sturdy! It's -22 out here in the woods of Woodville and I, too, must go to work today, dig out from mountains of work after digging out our half mile driveway last night from mountains of snow. Our township road won't get plowed out today in all likelihood - makes life interesting :-) I'm with Gale - Sorel boots are a must today, even at my desk. No fashion statements today! Say, Dale, could you play that Peter Ostroushko song in which he takes all manner of food and good books to bed with him during a cold snap? What a great image!
Most of us remember one or two special things that our parents said to us repeatedly. My favorite dad-ism:
"It doesn't matter how you look, as long as you are warm!"
I may not have looked fashionable on my way to work today, but I was warm...!
Dale,
Thank you so much for "Oh Girl" - it did warm me and make my day!
Stay warm, all you Heartlanders!
As you said, Dale...layers, layers, layers. long underwear, sweat pants and shirt, ski pants, down vest, gator, hat, carrhart jacket, mukluks or my new Russian wool felt boots over two layers of wool socks...and out to the barn to throw food at the horses, chickens and cats. Lots of food!!! The chickens huddle on the rafters or in the hay bales where the cats peer out from the caves between bales. The horses run about to get their blood up or hang near the east side of the barn to catch the sun as it comes up to "warm" them.
Then me and the dog rush back to the warm house...undo the layers and put on new ones to be presentable at the office.
Morning Heartlanders. I'm a little jealous of all the farm folks this morning. I have no animals to prepare for the day - just a 13 year old! I'm sure the sheep and the chickens and the horses are easier to deal with than trying to convince a teenager to zip her coat and actually wear a hat!
Keep warm everybody!
Good morning! School has been delayed 2 hours, I suspect buying time to consider cancellation.
A Tom Waits' song comes to my mind, can't remember exactly which one but the phrase "...colder than a well-digger's ____" Well you know. Can you find that one?
Good morning! School has been delayed 2 hours, I suspect buying time to consider cancellation.
A Tom Waits' song comes to my mind, can't remember exactly which one but the phrase "...colder than a well-digger's ____" Well you know. Can you find that one?
No comment on the cold, just treat it with both contempt and respect and fantasize about my upcoming trip to Phoenix.
However, regarding the computer name election from last week. My candidate did not win. I want a recount.
And if the recount does not come out it my favor, I'm getting a lawyer and filing suit.
See, the cold does NOT make ME crabby!!
Sherrilee, children are challenging in many ways. but in a contest of pigheadedness, most goats would win every time.
but i do remember when i was a teenager (a loooong time ago when we couldn't wear slacks to school) my Mom would make me wear corduroy pants under my skirt for my walk to school during the winter. i would always take the pants off as soon as i got out of her line of sight. :-)
Thanks for the Dr. John and NOLA music!
In Sioux Falls today, it will be indoor recess for the kiddies and probably the next 2 days (groan), but they do love the chance to get out the tinker toys, lincoln logs, legos, playdough... and when that gets old, we can always play 7-up.
Do you have Chad & Jeremy's, A Summer Song, in the library?
Waltzing Matilda is extremely appreciated!
Well between the snow and the cold I think I'll leave the bicycle in the garage today for a change. The cold by itself isn't so bad (there's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong wardrobe) but fighting the snow is just too much work and I would arrive soaked in sweat and encased in ice.
Barb, you just brought back memories of wearing snow pants under my skirts when in grade school! Warm, but so cumbersome. And the cloak room filled with various jackets, boots and thick woolen pants that matched the jackets.
My grade school was on top of a hill that lent itself to sliding down at noon for lunch and after school headed for home. Soon those snowpants had "reinforced" seats in spite of the cardboard "sleds"
Warm cold weather memories. Thanks!
Mark, on my 25 mile commute, I often envy people I see who are riding their bikes to work. I guess I forgot about days like today. I hope you enjoy all the other days.
Dale, could you play a version of Porgy and Bess' Summertime? Or Tito Puente? Or something from In the Heat of the Night? Or Girl from Ipenema? You choose. Thanks.
Thanks for that bit of hope and denial... In The Summertime. ;-)
Greetings from Zimmerman, where the old thermometer on the wall reads -23.
In the 'bleak midwinter' my way to warm up is to read a book that has a warm location for the setting of the story - the longer the book, the better : )
A song that always seems warm to me is "Under the Boardwalk", or any of the 'salsa' songs.
The Tom Waits song with the cold reference is Diamonds on my Windsheild.......which I had this morning. It's really cold out there, I feel for all those outdoor workers, and of course my 25 year old son who doesn't own a car and rides his bike everywhere regardless of the weather. Ah...youth!
Stay warm.....Kate, Eden Prairie
Nothing seems to work right in this weather....the laptop I have set up to launch Radio Heartland at 6AM didn't perform this morning. It woke up, as it was supposed to, but simply opened iTunes and sat there contemplating, still in its slippers and pajamas. Is it temperature sensitive? Should I offer it a virtual cup of coffee? I have no clue.
Dale and Mike, thanks for Summertime. I appreciate it. Do you still have to go searching for CDs in your library when you get requests, or can you just tap into Jasper and tell him to make it so?
I appreciate the interactiveness of this blog. Nice feature. Keep up the good work!
I work in St Paul and moved to a condo located right on the skyway. So I happily walk to work and have only a short 1/2 block outside. That's more than enough time to enjoy the beauty of winter. I had to drive for more than 30 miles one way at my old job so I truly appreciate this.
When home, I especially like curling up with a book and watching the snow kind of glitter down.
According to my trusty laptop the temperature in Somerset is -18. Jim Ed and I picked the right winter to retire-I might have to go out and shovel but without time constraints and no more daily commutes. I'm thinking of everyone braving the weather and sending as much warm energy as I can spare.
Grant - Thanks, I do enjoy riding more than I ever did sitting in rush-hour gridlock.
Kate - The pleasure of riding year 'round doesn't have to be only for the youngsters, I'm more than twice your son's age.
I will have to admit I am OK with not riding today though and perhaps Dale could provide some additional warmth by playing Fever, my favorite version is by Ginger Commodore off her latest recording, Ginger Commodore Live at the Hot Summer Jazz Festival.
Warm thoughts to all!
I never thought the Peggy Lee version of Fever could be replaced as my favorite until I heard the Ginger Commodore version so a great substitute, thanks for playing it!
I moved to Sweden the day before the final day of the Morning Show and was ever so grateful for the birth of Radio Heartland. In Lund, Sweden it is currently 41 degrees with misty rain. Sorry to make you jealous! We are at the southern tip, very close to the Gulf Stream's warming effect. It is not always easy to remember to tune in to Dale in the middle of the afternoon, so it has been fun listening to you today.
Thanks Barb,
It's fun to have a listener in Lund, Sweden!
I like the thought of 41 degrees and misty rain and Swedes all around, speaking English better than the Americans.
Is there a song you'd like to hear tomorrow afternoon?
My wife had to go to Orlando this week for work; that sounded pretty smart to me. Then she told me she has to come home this Thursday. Hmmmmmm . . . .
Oh the weather outside is wretched
And if there's a bug I'll catch it
It'll be hard to shake it off
So I'll cough, and I'll cough, and I'll cough.
Oh the weather's so "Minnesota"
But I've got no place to go to
So I'll stay in outta the storm
Where I'm warm, where I'm warm, where I'm warm.
Tough morning today... -18 in our valley outside Rochester.
Turn on the light in the well house, shovel out the shed doors, plow out the driveway (about a mile long) and then the tractor quit about 200 yards from home and *almost* done blowing snow... pull that home, filter on the diesel barrel frozen...
But the truck and car started right up, saw the sun rise, saw the wild animal tracks in the wooded areas; none out in the open...
Finally got tractor running again, kids to school, RH on the computer and cappuccino in me.
Do it all again tomorrow?
Hot chocolate, baby, hot chocolate.
Linda in St. Paul, or anyone else that might be reading this, how do you set up your puter to turn on RH in the morning via iTunes? I want to do that!
I have the Insignia HD stereo that MPR offered as a contribution gift, but there is no alarm function on it, so until I can afford a new HD alarm radio for my bedroom, I would like to figure out how my puter can wake me up. Any suggestions anyone?
When I was 10, I was the school safety patrol stationed on the bridge over Nine Mile Creek near Hillcrest Elementary School. On mornings that were minus 10 degrees F (or colder), my mom would bundle me up in the big red parka that my dad wore when he worked the chains at the Met Stadium for the Vikings. I looked pretty funny in this huge coat that went down to the ground. I always wondered what the head of the school patrols expected me to do if someone went in the creek on my watch. (a non issue if I was wearing my dad's Viking parka)
Hi Jennifer,
I use my iPhone with Apple's Remote application for turning on iTunes in the morning. I have a set of speakers running off the AirPort in the bedroom and set iTunes to use both the computer speakers for downstairs and ones upstairs in the bedroom.
I haven't figured out how to get it to turn on automatically but when the alarm goes off I just fire up RH. I imagine there's a way to do it with the Automator application that comes with the Mac but I haven't figured it out. I'll take a look and post back here if I can turn iTunes into an alarm clock.
Jennifer,
Here’s how you can use your computer as a clock radio if you have a Mac with iTunes, iCal, and Automator. If you have a Windows-based machine, maybe someone else has some tips.
1. Set the computer to start up a few minutes before your alarm time using Energy Saver in your system preferences. (Click on the “Schedule” button.)
2. Set iTunes and iCal to open at startup.
3. Create an iTunes playlist containing Radio Heartland.
4. Create a script using Automator (should be available in your Applications folder). Mine looks something like this:
Set iTunes volume (set to lowest setting using slider)
Get specified iTunes items + “Radio Heartland”
Play iTunes playlist
Pause 30 seconds
Set iTunes volume (slide the volume up a little)
Pause 10 seconds
Set iTunes volume (slide up a little more)
Repeat the pause/set volume until you have the volume where you want it. Use the Run Workflow command on the Workflow menu to test it and see how it sounds.
5. Save the automator script as a plug in, and specify you want it saved as an iCal alarm (on the File menu).
Go into iCal and create a recurring event with your plug-in specified as the alarm (“Open file”).
That should do it.
You can start the playlist at full volume if you want, but if you pause before turning the volume up you will have a smoother start (mine buffers a lot when it first starts streaming). It also lets you skip over the thanks-for-listening greeting. (Sorry, Dale. Heard it enough.)
If you do use the pauses in your script, make sure you use the Pause action under the Automator library, NOT the Pause iTunes action under the iTunes library - Pause iTunes stops the stream.
This has worked pretty well for me, but I found I didn’t like the Mac chime going off when the computer started up – that’s not the sound I wanted to wake up to. So I hit on the idea of plugging in external speakers that have a separate power supply, and putting the speakers on an appliance timer. So the computer starts up at around 5:45 with the speakers off to mute the chime, then the speakers come on before the iCal alarm fires a couple of minutes before 6:00.
Well done, Linda! Thanks for writing it out so clearly.
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