Winter Accidents

Friday the 13th, January 2012 I was joyfully surrounded by a group of friends enjoying a warm dinner in Desenzano when one piped up, "It's Friday the 13th and we have all made it alive!" I froze with my fork full of gnocchi mid-air and stared blankly for a second before continuing to eat. Actually, most people at the table just looked at her. That night, probably the second she said it, the Costa Concordia Luxury Cruise ship, worth $450 million, off of the coast of Italy struck a rock and sunk with more than 4,200 passengers left to float to the cost in the middle of the coldest week of the year in Italy. The best parts are that the champagne bottle, broken against the ship for good luck, didn't break at the inauguration of the Concordia in 2005, the Real Housewives of New Jersey traveled on it at one point, and the night the ship hit a rock the captain was caught with another woman. Add all of those points up and it is of no surprise that the ship sunk on Friday the 13th. I can't imagine being the captains wife and finding out that he was prancing around with some girl and was not watching the ship and that it sunk.

The Concordia: 5 times the size of the Titanic

Police examining the scene of the crime

In more local news, the weather has been about -5 degrees, we have been hit with a "chemical snow" falling with a mixture of mercury and snow from a factory in Russia and the streets are terribly slippery.

It's cold outside!

slippery!

This has caused me to spend more time in the house organizing, reading my kindle (that is now broken), working on new crafts and even excising like a prisoner under house arrest. I'm really starting to like my Pilate's prisoner routine!

My second shot at embroidery

I'm attempting Swedish "Kurbits" that inspired me while on a trip in Stockholm

All drawn out with chalk

Fatty hibernating and enjoying the blanket I finished.

This week has reminded me a lot of some children's books I read as a child: "The Long Winter" by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and "Kirsten's Surprise" by American Girl about a Swedish Immigrant in 1854.

In both of these books the girls had to put up with very cold and very long winters. I am half tempted to buy a fur Russian hat and walk around like Davy Crockett till it warms up.