(At least this guy had to be outside! I still can’t believe some days that Laurie and I actually choose to do this on a daily basis!)

So today, as I drove toward Laurie’s house, the flashing sign along Lake Bemidji proudly declared: zero degrees.

Last year, when we started walking, we barely flinched at zero degrees. We chickened out only once, when the temperature dipped to about 30 below, if I remember correctly. But even that day we walked two blocks before giving in and going home.

I don’t know if it’s that we are just spoiled this year, having thoroughly enjoyed summertime and fall. But we’re wimps. We complained for the first 20 minutes about how cold our noses were. (I plan to buy one of those face protector things that Sarah mentioned a few days ago; I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. Laurie has one, but hasn’t quite found it yet this year.)

Today I was wearing three pairs of socks, two pairs of pants, two heavy sweatshirts, and my oh-so-cool hat. Laurie was dressed just as warmly, but since she isn’t doing the blog today, she also got the benefit of mittens. (Hard to take pictures with gloves or mittens.)

Don’t we look warm?! (We rarely ever get our picture taken together, so I tried getting a shot off of a window downtown. It worked OK, although I don’t know why I felt I needed to look up at the camera, which was actually below my chin.)

***

Today, we walked down America Avenue and came back along Irvine Avenue. While we often take off along America, we try to find different routes back or through town. But we haven’t been down America since last week (I believe), so we did see some new decorations.

This one, in particular, I really like. I love crossword puzzles, although I am admittedly terrible at them. And I just think it’s a nice concept for Christmas (I’m at least fairly religious, so I’m a big fan of crosses).

Then, there was this tree, which, I thought, offered a nice alternative to traditional Christmas lights.

This house made us chuckle a little bit. I don’t know how clear the photo is, but, basically, there was a pile of Christmas decorations ahead of the front door. We know it’s fairly common along Irvine to have signs and suggestions for visitors to reach the side door, but we thought this house, especially, got its point across!

And, this was just too cute. Talk about a "snow" globe!

We found today that we might actually be able to be useful with this blog as well. We took a picture of a sign for a lost dog and are alerting our faithful readers to keep an eye open for this poor girl. The female "wiener dog" named Spaetzle was last seen in mid-November in northwest Bemidji. There is a reward.

Oh, and this was just too odd. We’re guessing these are not real – but we certainly loved imagining that it was springtime!

Thanks for reading!

Today’s Puzzler is…

Yesterday’s Puzzler was kind of tough, but the answer is that the ants are characters on a trailer for Stapleton Construction:

Have a good Wednesday – and Thursday. I probably won’t walk tomorrow since I have the day off. And I really doubt Laurie will want to walk outside without me…

- Bethany