It's Winter!

Until today, we have had a relatively mild fall.  Last week, however, it started being chilly (highs in the 30s) and people started wearing warm jackets.  However, it was not yet time for the winter coat. 

But this morning when I fetched my paper the temperature was 9.  I decided it was time for Big Purple.  I have named my winter coat Big Purple because, well, it's big and purple.  With Big Purple comes the ski gloves and the wool scarves. 

Winter is both a friend and enemy here.  It's a friend because it is severe enough to kill all chiggers, cockroaches and termites that may have wandered in from other areas over the summer.  It's an enemy if it snows so much that my car gets stuck in the snow 20 feet from my driveway.  Can't wait for the sun to melt the snow, because that could be months. I have to call a tow truck.  Very embarrassing!

This is certainly different from my former home, in which Big Purple sometimes stayed in the closet all winter, as the folks there consider 40 degrees and drizzle to be "cold".  Nuts!  I now know what cold it.  It's not 40 degrees or 30 degrees or even 20 degrees.  It's 20 below.  Actually, I think there should be another word for the cold-below-cold that we get here. 

I was watching a documentary about WWII and was reminded of the Winter that Russia has.  I capitalized Winter because their winter is more "winter" even than our winter.  The only people who do well in a Russian winter is a Russian.  This is something that both Hitler and Napolean found out when their summer offenses into Russia became bogged down and turned into winter offenses.  They both went home with only a small fraction of their armies.  Many of those soldiers were not killed in battle, but died from the Russian Winter.  In that case, Winter was Russia's not-so-secret weapon. 

In the documentary, one of the things that was pointed out was that the best kind of winter coat is not a wool coat, but a quilted one.  The Russians had quilted coats, but the Germans had wool.  Russians know Winter.

And, as luck would have it, Big Purple is quilted.  I got it about 30 years ago, and it's still going strong.  Any part of my anatomy that is under Big Purple is warm, regardless of temperature or wind chill. I have shoveled snow in 15 below weather while wearing Big Purple and actually started perspiring.   Winter?  I'm ready!

"V" for Vendetta

A few weeks ago, I happened to catch on TV the last part of a movie called "V" for Vendetta.  I was intrigued, though confused, as this is a movie that makes no sense if seen from the middle.  Finally, last weekend, I was able to find the time to rent it and watch it from the beginning.  All I can say is WOW! 

If you haven't seen it, here's the general idea.  In 1605, a man named Guy Fawkes plotted to blow up the Parliament building in London because he wished to depose the king and replace him with another.  The plot was discovered and Mr. Fawkes paid with his life.  The destruction was to take place on Nov. 5, and for a while, Guy Fawkes Day, Nov. 5, was celebrated in England by burning Mr. Fawkes in effigy and shooting off fireworks.    

However, in the movie, a man only known as "V" sees Guy Fawkes not as a villian, but as a hero because he tried to do something about a government he didn't like.  The movie takes place in a Britain that is ruled by a Hitler-like character in a Nazi-like regime, so V doesn't like his government, either.  He is also put off by the fact that he was the unwilling subject of medical experiments conducted by the same government.  So, wearing a Guy Fawkes mask all the time, V starts a one-man program to do what Guy Fawkes tried and failed to do--not just blow up Parliament, but change the government.  His plan is carefully thought out and flawlessly executed, and I found it altogether fascinating.  It involved assasination, persuasion, and manipulation of people, playing on certain personality traits.  V is a complex character--part terrorist, part philosopher, and a pretty good dancer.  He quotes Shakespeare a lot, and wears a black cape, which is always a plus.  V is played by Hugo Weaving, who does a marvellous job, especially considering that you never see  his face.  His acting must be accomplished primarily by voice inflection.

I am not surprised that some in the Occupy Wall Street bunch have started wearing the Guy Fawkes mask, because it's a powerful symbol to anyone who has seen this movie, although I would have thought that the message would have resonated more with the Tea Party folks. 

Anyway, watch it, if you haven't already.  I was in the middle of the movie when I realized I was watching it on Nov. 5, Guy Fawkes Day.  What a coincidence!  Or, as V says in the movie, there are no coincidences.