The Hawk is Biting

When I was in the army, the Black guys used to refer to cold weather as "The Hawk", as in "The Hawk is sure biting today!"  Somebody told me that the term originated in Chicago, but I never heard of it until I got to Berlin.  The Hawk has been kind to us in Beaglesonia this winter, until recently that is.  We've had three nights in a row that got below zero, but that was the first time this season.  I don't think we have a foot of snow on the ground yet, but it's getting close to that.  The jet stream has been pushing most of the storms south of us so far, but we have had to deal with some lake effect.  Cheboygan is just outside the traditional lake effect zone, or "Snow Belt" as they call it, but we do get clipped by it from time to time.  

You guys have to wear your masks outdoors?  We only have to wear them inside public buildings or crowded places where social distancing is not possible.  I only wear glasses for reading, but they do fog up when I put them on to read a label or something.  What you're supposed to do to prevent that is to wear a taller mask and tuck the top edge under your glasses, or so I have been told.  As for me, I just pull the mask down off my nose so that it just covers my mouth.  I have seen people who wear their mask that way all the time, but I only do it when I put on my reading glasses or get short of breath.  Funny, I breathe through my mouth when I'm sort of breath, but pulling the mask down below my nose seems to help.  Maybe it's all in my head.

Last I heard, there was plenty of yeast in Cheboygan, but we still get rolling shortages of different products.  Toilet paper got scarce when Queen Gretchen imposed her last partial lockdown, but the supply chain quickly recovered.  Still, there are a few items on our weekly list that can't be found in our local Walmart on any particular day.  Then we have to go to another store or, if we are a week ahead, which we usually are, come back next week and see if they've got it in yet.  It's nothing like it was last spring, but it's still a pain in the ass.