Stronger

We've got a heat wave going on up here! Highs in the forties for the next few days! Yays! We finally have some grass showing after being covered since early December. This has been an unusually cold winter for Montana. Did you know that the kids have recess, P.E. and wait outside in the mornings for the bell to ring if it is above zero, that is Fahrenheit not Celsius! This is especially shocking to me because when I taught P.E. we didn't go outside if it was below 40! Thankfully, if it is in the negatives they have mercy on our little lamb chops and let them stay in. They never cancel school because of snow - never!

When we moved here I needed a little schooling myself on the way to dress my lamb chops so they don't become Popsicles. They wear their warm school clothes under their snowsuits including snow-boots to school. Then, they put their school shoes in their backpacks for quick changes in the day. A native Montana mother sweetly explained all this to me. I had to repeat it back to her so I knew I understood her correctly. She laughed at me, unashamedly. I have no idea why, this all seemed CRAZY to me! This is our third winter here and now I've joined the crazies because this all seems perfectly normal!

Another big difference up here is the changing of the sunrise and sunset throughout the year. On the shortest day of the year the sunsets around 4:30 in the afternoon. It does take some adjusting to... like taking some extra vitamin D or whatever else gets ya through the day. However, as the summer approaches the days lengthen and the sun sets around 10:00. On the forth of July we have to wait an extra hour to shoot our fireworks. On the summer mornings when we should get to sleep in, the sun comes screaming, I mean streaming, uh beaming in our windows at an insanely early hour, around 4:30 (aka "the middle of the night".) I keep telling myself whatever doesn't kill us, or give us frostbite, or deprive us of sleep only makes us stronger!