9

That is what my car told me the temperature was at 5:45 this morning. "9". By the time I hit Highway 100 it was 11. The creaking of the frozen porch door told me it was cold. The crackling of my car door when I opened it seconded that motion. Funny how it didn't really feel that cold. Maybe I've become used to the cold. The perk was that it was cold without wind so the coldness just kind of sat there.
When I got to work I noticed the abundance of salt in the parking lot and on the walkways. I think our service overdid it a tad. It may be a good idea for them to spread it out a little more evenly. There are literally piles of salt in some areas that if you're not careful could trip you. I'm sure that at some point this winter someone will be writing up an incident report for unsure footing on the salt.
The birds got me this morning again. There is an evergreen tree close to the side of the building that one has to walk by to get to the door. A flock of birds has made this there evening resting place. Usually they fly out around 7 am. This morning it was still dark when I walked past and I saw the tree branches moving a bit. Out they came. I stopped while they began their flight into morning. I felt a little like Tippy for a minute or so. I'm not quite sure how all those birds fit into that tree but can picture them all huddled together to stay warm. Their path out was not all on the same course so I think some of them were a bit shocked to see me in their way. I'm just glad that I was alone at the moment and no one got to see the show. I see this as being a pay back for my laughter last week when one of the guys I work with was walking past at the time of their departure from the tree. I happened to be outside and got a good laugh at him dropping his lunch bag and taking off with some not so nice words coming from his mouth. A good idea to solve this problem might be taken from Steel Magnolias. Get a gun!