Running in winter...and at night

December 21, 2020. Coming into Wisconsin living, I never for a moment thought that outdoor walking would be manageable during the stereotypically harsh Wisconsin winter. The low temperature, the prevailing winds, the even lower wind chill factor, and the ice and snow on the streets would be enough to keep any sane walker inside after December 21.

Apparently not. Worse, I have found times -- like today when the temperature is 22F and the wind chill is 13F -- when I'd walk in shorts. True, in my third leg of my 5.12 mile day I did wear running tights, but the earlier runs in shorts were also not either the first time I went out in the cold in shorts, nor was this the coldest day where I wore shorts.

The results are rough, red lower thighs and cheeks. But no lingering pain, no frost bite. I feel better after the frozen walks than I ever felt after the hot, humid walks back in Baltimore.

Plus running at night in late December provided me with a view of the neighborhood Christmas lights that would otherwise earn only a fleeting glimpse driving by at 25 miles and hour. It keeps the Christmas fire burning in my heart for days after Christmas and now into January.

So when does Christmas season end? While some use Epiphany as the last day, I tend to identify with the day that the Christmas tree looks too dry and beleaguered to carry on, and we dispatch it from the house. When Jane and Gaby were younger, we had a practice -- maybe even a tradition -- of cutting down our own tree, usually the day after Thanksgiving, and almost always on a day without snow on the ground. Maybe once did we venture out when there was some snow cover. Cutting the tree ourselves meant we knew that when the tree could be cut and, with water, it could last at least four weeks without trouble. But it has been some time since we cut our own tree.

Early January also helps me feel better than we usually have the first month of winter-like weather behind us and that we have about eight weeks left of what I expect to be the harshest of winters. While March in Wisconsin can be pretty raw, and snow is not out of the question, any bad weather in March always strikes me as winter's last gasp. So I practice my own type of Groundhog Day in projecting when winter will end, only it's just the first day in January where I notice how much winter we have already had. And if it has been a light winter so far, as it has been this year, I plan on eight more weeks of winter.

This year Groundhog Day appears to be in its ninth month, meaning that as in the movie, Groundhog Day comes again, and again, and again, and....maybe 2021 and my winter forecast will break the lock Covid has on our lifestyle.