60 degree weather in January?! Ahhhh!

Oh how blessed is this day?! 60 degrees in January? Illinois sure is screwy, no? It's not uncommon for people to walk around in hoodies, shorts and flipflops. I was once on the way to class on a chilly day in September. I had thought it was going to be 80 or upwards like it had been the previous week, so I had worn a light cotton skirt and blouse. Of course, it's like 45 out that day so I'm freezing. But that's not the point, as I'm walking to class another guy says Hi to me, I return the greeting and as we share an elevator we get into a conversation. Apparently he's from Russia, and he tells me that this weather we have right now, (45 degrees) is particularly warm for him. I laugh, and tell him the joke about the hoodies and flipflops. Unfortunately he gives me this strange look, and asks me what the he** is a flipflop. Sometimes I need to be more aware, no?

But on to more important things. Today was aaammaaazzziiinnggg. I walked outside this morning and almost moaned but for the great temperature. Simply phenomenal. So I hurried as fast as I could to finish all on my 'to do' list and get outside. I went for an incredible run outside on my traditional route through town. Radio blasting in my ears, heart pounding, going harder and faster until you just feel like collapsing sometimes. It is an indescribable feeling when I finally finish my circuit and near the road my house is on. From the green street sign to my drive way I try to go an all out sprint. Then once i hit the drive way, run up it while holding my breath until the third crack in the driveway. Why you may ask? This forces the heart to work harder. After that it's a very brief cool down walk/jog or a bike ride to bring my heart rate back down.

Instead of a walk/jog, I went on a bike ride today after my run. I went out out in the country along the back fields and stopped for a little while to listen to the wind over the remnants of cornstalks and leaves. Then I moved on with the gorgeous grey sky above me, whirring down and up a hill until I reached the train tracks over Brush Creek (pronounced crik). All over the guard rails are all sorts of graffiti and underneath the bridge the water sat rather than gently trickled like it did normally. The only noise was the distant hum of cars on the interstate a mile to my west and the steadily increasing whispering of the wind.

Just now we had some pretty intense weather. As the afternoon faded the wind picked up and a storm blew right in. I was excited for some rain, but we basically just got lots of thunder and lightning. At one point a tree in another yard split, that was exciting! But after that there was lightning and I heard something explode, it shook the house. Then the sirens started going off so we had to go down in the basement. Sounded pretty bad upstairs for a little while, but it didn't last long. So now I am sitting here listening to ambulances sporadicly come and go into and out of town. This has me slightly scared and very curious. Ah, a friend has just called me and told me someone's garage has burnt down.