Yesterday I hardly poked my nose outdoors at all; and by noon today I had cabin fever. I needed to get outdoors for a bit; but riding a bicycle isn’t fun when I’m stiff with cold; and so bundled up that I can hardly move.

I decided to walk to a store that’s a half-mile or so from here. Tomorrow I’m having Christmas dinner with old friends of the family; and I want to take a little contribution with me. I already had several cans of hummus (purchased online), and I want to take a can of it to the dinner. I decided to get some crackers to go with it.

So I bundled up: slacks over a pair of tights; long-sleeved blouse; vest; and several windbreakers.  Two of the windbreakers had hoods, to go over a stocking cap.

As an aside, that’s a good reason not to ride when it’s so cold: even with a helmet liner, my head hurts from said cold. To me that’s quite miserable!

To continue with the bundling-up routine, I wore double socks; including thermal socks. Even so, my feet got cold! And I wore my heaviest gloves, with warming packs inside; but my fingers got cold anyhow.

As long as I was in the sun and out of the wind, it was warmer outside than it is in here! Riding might help me get warm, at least as far as my upper body goes; but my hands and feet would still be too cold. Double layers on my legs won’t be enough. After all, the chill factor is still several degrees below freezing.

So I guess I’ll just have to put up with this cabin fever. By Monday night it’s supposed to “warm up” to the low 40. I’ll be glad when I can stop worrying about keeping my pipes from freezing!