Minus 24

You'd think the end of the world was coming. Radio DJs, newspapers, and TV news have been predicting it all week: freezing cold coming this weekend. They were giving advice on how to survive, what to do and not to do, alternatives to being outside, and so forth. The last thing anyone would do after listening to the reports of gloom and doom this week would have been to venture out-of-doors.

Well, Ali and I had a rare day off together on Sunday, so despite the cold, we decided to go for a backcountry ski trip regardless. If it was too cold for us (or Oscar) we could turn around, right? Usually, the last thing I want to see at a trailhead is cars. But when we arrived to find about 13 cars at Sunday's packed little trailhead, I found myself glad. "Good," I thought. "There are other people out there in the world smart enough to find out for themselves rather than trust the media."

Imagine if we had listened? We'd have missed a beautiful trip in the woods, a wrong turn that enabled us to make some turns in a spot we'd never skied before, and Oscar bounding through the snow like a dog on a mission. Thanks to the media for being wrong so often I no longer listen. Nothing you say can scare me.