On our flight to Seattle, there was an announcement from the cockpit.
“The captain has turned off the seatbelt sign, so you are now free to move about the cabin. If you are seated, please remain seated with your seatbelt fastened.”
Don’t miss it!
P.S. Did you check the date?
Meeting #8
Ted and I just returned from our visit to Seattle (Puyallup) where we were introduced to our seventh grandson, Sefton Aron Schroeder. (Kyra retains her status as our favorite granddaughter.) I could go on and on, but whatever I have to say about Sefton would be the same thing in different words: he’s a baby, he’s small, he’s so, so soft and cuddly, and he’s so, so sweet and lovable. Here is February 1-5 in pictures.
My first time holding Sefton.
Sefton with Grandpa.
Sefton with his big brother, Julian.
Sefton does not enjoy bath time.
Thom and Katie blow-dry Sefton after his bath. He likes this a lot more than the bath.
Sefton can already sit by himself–with some support, of course.
Ted and Julian having a Connect Four tournament–just like they did when Julian was much younger. This time, Julian didn’t cry when he lost a game to his grandpa; he just beat Grandpa in the next game.
Julian playing one of his piano compositions for us.
As part of his birthday gift, we took Julian to Trampoline Nation where he amazed us with twists and flips and twisting flips.
Me and two of my favorite boys–Julian and Sefton.
A family photo.
Thom and Katie’s Lego family.
Just before we left, the rain changed to snow. Sefton’s first snow. (For us, two coats of de-icer on the tarmak before our plane could take off.)
MoPOP
While we were in Seattle, we had the chance to spend Saturday with my brother Russ’s family who have moved to Seattle from Philadelphia. We decided to spend the cold, rainy day at a museum and selected MoPOP–the Museum of Pop Culture–at Seattle Center, in the foggy shadow of the Space Needle.
Most of the museum focused on music and musicians from the 80s and 90s, but those exhibits were joined by displays of the Wizard of Oz and The Princess Bride because of the widespread cultural influence those movies have had. There was also a special exhibit on Star Trek for the same reason. Unfortunately for us, the Rube Goldberg exhibit doesn’t open until February 11. It was an interesting afternoon and gave us a nice venue where we could stay warm and dry while we visited with each other.
This tower has over 700 guitars and other instruments wired together to play electronic music.
Some of the instruments in the guitar tower.
The Jimi Hendrix display required an entire room.
Star Trek, of course. Beam me up!
Ted and me and a friendly guitar.
L -> R: Russ, Nick, Betsy, Phil, Ben
Just like the rich people
We have recently had a private screening of a movie and a private seating at a restaurant. Yesterday, we returned from Seattle on a (nearly) private jet, landed at a (nearly) private terminal, and were taken to our car by private shuttle (limo?).
The plane had 162 seats and only 42 passengers. There were 7 crew members. That must be close to the square footage and level of service we’d have on a private jet.
Ours was the last flight of the day. All the shops were closed and everyone else had already left the airport.
Just Ted and me on our private shuttle/limo to the parking garage.
Out to lunch?
Ted and I went out to lunch today at one of our favorite restaurants. The young woman who has been working as the cashier waited on us, so I asked if she has changed positions. She said she has, and told us this is her third week waiting tables. It’s her first week doing it on her own and the reason we haven’t previously seen her as a server, she said, is because she only works on Tuesdays.
Today is Monday.
You never know what’s going to happen in your day: Part 2
On February 8, 2016, Dr. P. asked me if I would be willing to provide some trainings for the teachers at his school in India. With Dr. P.’s permission, I invited my friend and adult education mentor, John, to be my co-trainer. After much planning and a number of meetings, we set a departure date for December 27. For several reasons directly related to Dr. P., it became obvious that not everything would be in place by that date, so we set February 9 as a more viable departure date.
Ted and I are in Washington state right now, getting acquainted with our new grandson, Sefton. Because we will return to St. Louis just three days before the departure date for India, I already have most of my things packed for that trip. John, my co-trainer, and I have had our inoculations and have received our Indian visas. We have also spent a great deal of time preparing our training materials. We are ready to go.
Imagine my surprise this morning when Dr. P.’s office manager called to tell me that the training will have to be postponed because Dr. P. will not have the necessary funding in place in time to purchase the airline tickets for the trip. There is a possibility the training will be rescheduled for April or May. I guess I’ll unpack when Ted and I get home on Sunday.
I’m feeling disappointed. . . . Is there an emoji for that?
Family resemblance?
Katie put this composite picture together. Sefton is on the left; Katie is at the top right; and Thom is at the lower right.
Thom was our least attractive baby at birth. When they brought him to me for one of his first feedings in the hospital, I put out my arms and said, “Come here, you homely little guy.” I said it with love, but the nurse didn’t leave the room. I’ve always wondered if she put herself on guard duty in case I harmed my baby. In less than two weeks, Thom’s face firmed up and he started to look like the handsome man he is today. He’s the epitome of my Grandma Lorenzen’s saying: “Homely in the cradle; handsome at the table.” (What does that say about our other children who were prettier right after their births and are still handsome and beautiful?)
Today’s library
Weird . . . but wonderful
The reader . . .
. . . and what she’s doing.
I love to stare at marked slices of tree for hours on end, hallucinating vividly. Thanks for pointing this out, Grammarly.
Looking for something to do?
Private lunch
A few weeks ago, we had a private showing of the movie “Fences.” Today, I was busy dealing with visa details for my upcoming trip to India, so Ted and I decided to go out for a late lunch. It was late enough that we had the privilege of a private lunch. Aren’t we special?!
Just us–and really good food and service.
Grammar fun
Grammar fun never ends.
English major pickup line
Old family photos
Judy Schroeder Yadev included some old pictures of Ted’s dad with her family New Year’s letter. It’s interesting to see him in a track suit instead of blue denim bib overalls and a long-sleeved blue chambray shirt with the sleeves rolled up. (Once we bought him a blue short-sleeved shirt for Father’s Day, but he told us to return it because he never wore short sleeves.) Another difference is his hair. I never saw him with hair longer than a crewcut.
Paul was a track star and medaled in the sport. He’s 14 in these pictures (born November 4, 1909). Some of his medals were passed on to Kari. She ran track and cross-country in high school and went to state in cross-country. Ted also has the track gene. He set a record in the 440-yard dash that stood for 26 years before Kiel had a faster runner on the team.
1923 Lincoln High School (Manitowoc) track team. Paul is second from the left in the first row.
No individual photos in those days, I guess. Just crop each boy out of the group shot. No bib overalls or crewcut yet.
Cy and I
Every now and then, when Ted and I go out to lunch, we meet someone we know in the restaurant. Yesterday, we selected the same restaurant as one of the 70 volunteers I used to supervise. It was fun to see Cy (Cyril) again and to catch up with him for a few minutes.
This is usually the end of the story, but the weather was crummy, so Ted and I decided to walk our three miles in the mall. Who else do you think decided to walk the mall after lunch? Right. Cy. Two meetings in two venues in less than an hour after several years of not seeing each other deserved a photo memory, so Ted took pictures with Cy’s and my phones.
Teddy
Teddy loves pigs. I made a pig birthday cake for him, and we found a huge pig that Ted was sure his namesake would be excited to get for Christmas. Frankly, I thought it was a little too big, but we bought it and it was a hit with Teddy. He kept it at his side all day on Christmas, and fell asleep with it when he got home.
Now Kari’s family has a new kitten and Teddy is in love with the kitten too. This makes it a tough choice when it’s time for a snuggle break, so Teddy relaxes with his two best buddies: the pig and the kitten.
Lucky me
I spent the day working on my India training materials again. I left the room to get something and when I came back, I noticed that it’s a good thing I have a big desk. And a new desk chair.
In memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way. ~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love. ~Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
There is nothing more selfish than trying to change someone’s mind because they don’t think like you. Just because something is different doesn’t mean it should not be respected. ~Jodi Picoult, Small Great Things
Peace
If it’s not one thing, . . .
The National Weather Service cancelled the ice storm warning at noon today. In its place, the NWS has now issued a dense fog advisory from 10:41 pm tonight (the time it was posted) until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. The cold ground and all the moisture from the melting ice and rain has us socked in. Tomorrow’s forecast: 53 degrees with an 80 percent chance of thunderstorms.
I’m ready for some sunshine.
The ice storm endeth
The freezing rain has moved out of our area and the ice storm warning has been lifted. We were lucky to be on the northern edge of most of the freezing rain. Springfield, MO had thunder ice–a rare meteorological event–resulting in many downed trees from the heavy ice accumulations.
Our forecast was for one-quarter to three-quarters inch of ice accumulation, and we had about one-half inch over the three days of the storm warning. Each day, we had freezing rain after midnight and into the morning hours; then it stopped raining and warmed up just enough to make the ice drip and melt. On Friday, we had a glazing; on Saturday, my meteorologist husband said we had 0.2 inches of ice; and today, we had about one-quarter inch of ice. Total: about one-half inch, but in three doses. Much better than a single one-half inch accumulation!
I based my Saturday evening symphony attendance prediction on all the local closings over the weekend–many places just closed for 2-3 days right away–but I was (thankfully) wrong. The roads were wet, but not icy, and we went to the concert for a wonderful performance of Dvořák’s New World Symphony. The orchestra made it worth going out in the cold.
Saturday–ice on our hedge and trees
Saturday’s ice–melted in the afternoon, then . . .
. . . followed by Sunday’s ice
Close-up view on Saturday–already beginning to melt
The woods on Saturday
Repeat performance with fresh ice on Sunday
Our new friends
Yesterday we received New Year’s greetings from our (apparent) friends, Ron and Sarah.
We’ve never seen or heard of these people! They know us well enough to spell our last name correctly, and they included the S in the address so the card wouldn’t go to the folks who live at N. They even got the ZIP code right, but they goofed on the city. Maybe some day we’ll meet this nice-looking family.
The ice storm cometh
The National Weather Service has issued an ice storm warning, effective from 9:00 am Friday (tomorrow) until noon Sunday. Freezing rain with ice accumulations from 0.25-0.75 inches is forecast. Damage to trees and power lines is expected. It looks like we might find ourselves in the lower accumulation area, but the storm track could vary over time. Even so, a quarter inch of ice is not good.
The evening TV news reported that MoDOT is busy treating roads in preparation for the freezing rain expected to arrive tomorrow morning, and citizens are flocking to the grocery stores. According to the cancellations on the TV crawl, a lot of the area is shutting down from Friday through Sunday. We have Saturday night symphony tickets. I bet we won’t be going.
We are prepared to hunker down over the weekend. We have some leftover meat from when the kids were here at Christmas, and are planning to eat it this weekend. Ted went to the grocery store to buy a gallon of milk and some potatoes to go with the meat. He said there was plenty of milk in stock, but this is what the bread aisle looks like.
Grandchild number 8 arrives!
Thom and Katie introduced Sefton Aron to us yesterday, January 11. He weighed 8 lb. 4.5 oz. and was 21 in. long. Mom, Dad, and baby are doing well. Sefton is the patient type. He was born nine days after his due date. This gives us seven grandsons and still only one granddaughter. Kyra retains her status as our favorite granddaughter.
I can’t wait to hold Sefton! We’re going to Seattle February 1 to meet him. . . . and to see the rest of the family too–Julian, Thom, and Katie.
He’s so cute!
Mommy loves him.
Daddy and Sefton in an airplane? (Or a birthing center.)
Coming home.
Deceptive advertising?
Wehrenberg Theaters just started offering “$5 Movie Tuesdays.” This might be in reaction to the long-running Regal Theater chain’s $5 Wednesday movies. Wehrenberg, however, offers a bag of free popcorn for each ticket purchased, a perk not included at Regal.
Ted and I playfully wondered how the 46 oz. of popcorn would be measured. Ounces can be a solid measure of weight (16 oz. = 1 lb.) or a liquid measure (16 oz. = 1 pint). Since 46 oz. of liquid popcorn would be impossible, we assumed a measure of weight would be more likely and questioned whether the weight would be popped or unpopped corn–either being a huge amount of popcorn. To cut the theater (and its advertising editors) a break, we decided it was probably reasonable to expect a container capable of holding 46 oz. of liquid (a little less than 1.5 quarts) to be filled with popcorn.
We would never eat that much popcorn together at a sitting, never mind one serving per ticket holder. Still, imagine our surprise when we saw that the 46 oz. of free popcorn was handed to us in a bag with a volume slightly greater than that of a 12 oz. can!
46 ounces in that bag? I think not.
I asked the server how they measured the 46 oz. and he told me that it’s a “new measurement” and is actually a “measure of value.” So theaters can now set new measurement standards? And what on earth is a “measure of value” in a food product?
Oh, well, the movie was good and that 46-ounce measure of value amount was plenty of popcorn for us to share as a snack.
Just wondering: What if this is one of those ubiquitous editing errors I keep finding, and no one at Wehrenberg noticed it was supposed to read 4 point 6 oz. of free popcorn? That certainly would have been closer to the actual measurement.
Private screening
A few days ago, we almost had a private screening of Hidden Figures, but two people arrived just as the movie started. Today, however, the theater was all ours for Fences, starring Denzel Washington. Matinees are the way to go!
No one else in any of the seats
Celebrating one year
One year ago today, I posted my first blog. Jeff helped me set up an account. I asked him not to mention it to anyone until I tried it for a month, because I didn’t know if I’d want to keep doing it or not. Over the past year, it has proved to be a good outlet for me. I’m not a journal writer and I don’t want the whole world to read about my life on Facebook, but the blog format has been working well for me. I’m really doing this for myself, but every now and then I get a comment or a compliment from one of my handful of readers. It’s rewarding to know that they (you) enjoy at least some of what I post.
Thanks for giving me the idea, Thom; thanks for getting me set up, Jeff; and thanks to my readers for their feedback. I’m started on Year Two.
So close!
Tonight we went to see Hidden Figures and almost had a private screening. Just before the movie started, two other people joined us. On a Sunday night, everyone else probably had to go to bed early to get up for work in the morning.
That lump two seats left of Ted is my scarf.
The movie was excellent. It was a true story about three African-American women working at NASA. These women served as the brains behind the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, crossing all gender and race lines in the 1960s. I recommend the movie, but I can’t promise you an (almost) private screening like we had.
Less of a bargain now
Ted stopped at Huck’s today and noticed that the bargain price of the Bigg Swigg has gone up $0.001. It’s not such a bargain any more.
Still less than a penny, but it used to be only .79¢
Seriously, Huck’s marketing department missed the editing error twice?? At least they saved money by not reprinting the entire sign.
What do you know about color?
Today, every natural language that has words for colors identifies two to twelve basic colors. English identifies eleven. Do you know what they are? If you want to quiz yourself, do it now, before reading the text below. Hint: Indigo is not one of them.
In early times, the only colors that were identified were bright (white) and dark (black). As time went on, red became a recognized color. The next two identified colors were green and yellow (or yellow, then green), followed by blue. All languages that distinguish colors have these six colors. Interestingly, these six colors roughly correspond to the sensitivity of the retinal ganglion cells. This indicates that development of color identification might be related to biology.
Brown, orange, pink, purple, and gray were the next colors to appear as color names, but not in any particular order. People started identifying pink and purple as colors from pinks (dianthus flowers) and from Tyrian purple, the dye that became the royal color (wearing the purple). Orange is a color mystery. Was the fruit named for the color, or the color for the fruit? At this point, there’s no way of knowing.
The eleven colors identified in English are black, white, red, green, yellow, blue, brown, orange, pink, purple, and gray. Italy, Greece, and Russia name azure as the twelfth color. Other color names may be used in a language, but they are considered to be derivatives of the basic colors. Languages and cultures are selective when deciding which hues to split into different colors, based on how light or dark they are.
“I learned this from the Grammarly blog” said grammar-nerd Diane, wearing a teal-colored shirt (derived from blue).
Break time
It’s just that easy! I’ve been working hard the past two weeks to get my training materials in order for the Indian teacher training. I’ve spent at least five ten-hour days at the computer, synthesizing the ideas in my head, the notes I’ve made, and my research-based materials and putting them into a form that I hope the Indian teachers will find useful, informative, and fun.
(Most of the time) I did a very good job (for me) of stepping away from the computer every few hours. I used to tell my students that taking a break clears your mind and helps you do a better job when you get back to work. Guess what: I was right! I really did feel fresher after a 10-15 minute break. It’s kind of like when, for a change, you do what the doctor tells you to do and then find out the doctor was right.
Brrrr
It’s a good day for hot chocolate.
Comfy
This is the day I gave up my old desk chair for a new one. Not only is the cushion of the old chair getting harder each year, but the chair’s creaks and squeaks are getting louder. Ted can hear the chair squeaking at the other end of the house when I move, and his hearing isn’t that good! It’s getting annoying and uncomfortable, so Ted and I went shopping today and picked out something softer and quieter.
Pay $12 for the store to assemble the chair??!! No way!! I love to put things together (maybe inherited from my dad), so when we got the chair home, I immediately went to work.
“This can’t be too hard,” said Diane, Allen wrench at hand.
Ted helped hold the back and seat together while I bolted them, then he fixed dinner while I worked to save the $12 assembly charge. I also told the cashier I’d pass on the $36 two-year buyer protection plan and just be very careful when I use the chair. Now I’m set for a (careful) day at the computer tomorrow while it snows.
Question: What shall I do with the $48 I saved?
All finished. Mmm, comfy! (And no squeaks.)
Quiz of the day
Where was waterproof fabric invented?
Clues: A raincoat is called a mackintosh in Britain. It rains a lot in Britain. (Been there. Experienced that.) “Mac”-intosh. (Scottish name.)
Right! Charles Macintosh of Scotland invented rubberized fabric and first sold the coats in 1824. Mackintosh (with a k) is the accepted alternate spelling for the coat. Trust Google to commemorate this with a doodle.
On being a woman
Tick, tock
Need a calendar?
Now that calendars are 50 percent off, Ted and I stopped to buy one on our way home from lunch today. We selected something with pictures we knew we’d enjoy for a year. If your calendar tastes run in a different direction than ours, you might want to consider this one before it’s sold out.
Happiness is . . .
It was wonderful to have three of the kids and their families with us for the Christmas weekend. Jeff’s family arrived for lunch on Friday; Kathy and Annette arrived for lunch on Saturday; and Kari’s family lives only 12-15 minutes away (depending on the traffic lights) and is on call to arrive at any time there’s fun on the schedule.
Naturally, we began the group activities with our time-honored tradition of lunch at Steak ‘n’ Shake. SnS, based in Cape Girardeau, MO, used to be a small regional chain, and was quickly established as a favorite among our grandchildren. It was also a favorite stop for Thom and Jeff, who couldn’t get those steakburgers in Colorado or Washington. SnS has spread out over the years and is now available in a much wider area, but too late–it’s already a family tradition to start a group visit with lunch at SnS. We must have had a new waitress this time. La commented that the waitress went pale when we said there would be ten of us for lunch. I missed her lack of facial coloring, but saw that she froze for a few seconds while processing that number.
Here we are at Steak ‘n’ Shake, with our menus at the ready, pondering which flavor shake to order.
Teddy has what he wants: the double chocolate brownie shake.
Another tradition of our family get-togethers is board games. Some of us (Jeff and Kyra) are board-game-aholics; others of us, not so much. Jeff usually has a new game the rest of us haven’t heard of, and it’s always something we enjoy while we play it together. This year included a remarkable Michigan Rummy game. The king/queen of hearts combination struck three times for payoffs (twice for Kyra and once for Ted) and the even more rarely played 6-7-8 combo struck twice–Ted hit it early in the game, and I won it on the last round. By then, the container we use to hold all the chips on that spot was full to the top, making me the big winner with that single pot.
Jeff shows us his obligatory goofy photo face during a round of King of Tokyo, a new game for this visit.
After all these years of hosting family get-togethers with so many people eating with us every day for several days, I’ve become pretty good at finding recipes I can prepare ahead. Then I only have to put them in the oven or the crock pot when it’s mealtime, minimizing my cooking time and maximizing my visiting time with the family. Of course, I always have offers of help from everyone and they take turns helping with food prep, serving, and doing the dishes. This year, Jeff and La’s family completely took over a Christmas brunch (prep, cooking, and dishes), and Kathy and Annette did the same for the Monday lunch. Kari dedicated herself to helping me with all the evening dinners, and I felt like we had a well-oiled system, leaving all of us well-fed with plenty of time to enjoy each other’s company.
Of course, the highlight of Christmas weekend is the gift-opening. It takes a long time for everyone to open gifts one at a time and then to show them to the group. One or more of us sometimes gives the same gift to everyone, and we quickly begin to see a pattern after the first two people open an identical gift from the same family. This year we tried opening gifts by family and it worked very well. We all opened the things we got from Jeff’s family and showed them to everyone; then the gifts from another family; and so on.
The gifts are packed tightly under the tree and extend behind the tree on both sides.
Zack was excited about receiving gaming headphones and a gaming keyboard. He can now be a gaming superstar.
Aunt Kathy and Annette scored a hit with Star Wars caps for Dylan, Teddy, and Sky.
Teddy loves pigs and was thrilled with his two new pigs. Kari texted us a photo of him sleeping with the big pig after her family went home on Christmas Day. Notice that the pig likes Teddy’s Star Wars cap too.
Dylan won the figurative gift presentation award and a literal round of applause when he described the gifts he had received. I don’t remember which gifts he was describing, but it went like this: “I got a (this) and a (that) and a (something else),” he began. Then, holding up something in his hand, he finished with, “And I lost a tooth.”
Dylan with one less tooth than he had a few minutes ago.
We missed having Alex with us, but Christmas is one of the days he is able to call home. Jeff’s family generously allowed all of us to share in the Google Hangouts conversation with Alex for about an hour. It was fun to see him and to hear more details about his life than he is able to write in his weekly emails. After a year, he is fluent in Spanish (except for a few fine points, he said) and we all got a kick out of the fact that his English now frequently includes a Spanish speech rhythm as well as a few Spanish-accented English words.
Sharing Christmas with Alex on a Google Hangouts video call.
Now the Christmas family gathering is over. Kathy and Annette left Monday afternoon and Jeff’s family left this morning. Thom, Katie, and Julian were not able to join us, as Katie’s due date is January 2. We talked to them by phone and are looking forward to getting a call from them very soon, letting us know if we’ll be meeting our seventh grandson or our second granddaughter when we go to visit them the first weekend of February.
Our still-growing family. Picture Thom, Katie, Julian, and (?) with us.
Getting into the spirit
Tonight, we completed our final pre-Christmas ritual: we attended the Bach Society’s Candlelight Concert at Powell Hall.
All dressed up with someplace special to go
This concert is the most popular Christmas concert in the St. Louis area and has been a tradition since 1951. The concert includes the Bach Society orchestra and a 55-voice chorus. It is beautiful, special, and inspiring. This year, the highlighted musical selection was the Magnificat, Mary’s response to the news that she would be the mother of the Christ Child. The orchestra director pointed out that it would be more appropriate to play this in March but, over the years, it has become associated with Christmas and the celebration of the birth of the Christ Child.
Powell Hall lobby decorated for Christmas
Powell Hall stage with orchestra and chorus getting ready to perform
The second half of the program is comprised of well-known religious Christmas carols. The stage lights dim and the chorus–each member holding a candle–enters the darkened auditorium from the back and walks down the aisles and around the seating sections of the auditorium until they have encircled the audience. They sing all the while, so the music is all around us. The adult chorus exits through the rear doors and the youth chorus (high school age kids) comes onstage in red robes, sings several carols, and exits. Then the audience sings two carols with the accompaniment of the orchestra. For the closing performance selection, both choruses enter from the rear and walk down all the aisles as they sing and re-group in a single line (150+ choristers) beginning on the stage and extending down along the outer walls of the auditorium.
The final carol of the evening, sung by the choristers and the audience, is Silent Night, during which both choruses walk into the aisles and again, surround the audience with music and candlelight. When they finish Silent Night, the concert is over and the chorus members are in the auditorium. They greet concert attendees as the attendees leave their seats and wish them a merry Christmas. It’s a beautiful evening and puts us in the holiday spirit.
Just like Mary, we now anticipate the birth of the Christ Child. Let Christmas begin (and end) with peace in our hearts.
May the peace of the Lord be with you.
Spring is coming!
In a previous post I mentioned a literary character whose outlook on winter and spring matches mine. By March, the fictional character was rationalizing that “it’s practically summer.” The winter solstice is over and, beginning today, the days are getting longer. For me, it’s practically spring.
P.S. I ignore Ted if he dares to mention that the coldest months of winter are still to come. That doesn’t matter.
Think spring!
Winter solstice at 4:44 a.m. today
Winter begins with a warm-up to near 50 degrees after a bitterly cold (low of -1 degree) final weekend of fall.
Credit: Google doodle