My kids are nuts

This has to be the only explanation as no sane person would walk to the school bus in nineteen degree weather wearing shorts. I love my kids dearly but I’m starting to fear for their ability to think straight. Over the weekend, my youngest had a baseball game. Needless to say, but the wind was up and the chill cut right to the bone.

We sat out there for four and a half hours watching two games, cheering for the team and not moving, because that’s what you do. In an effort to be prepared we may have had three blankets each, plus winter coats, scarves, gloves and beanies; you really have to be ready for these sorts of sporting events in the high desert. My son on the other hand, along with half his team, wore only their jerseys and no under shirts. It wasn’t until the very end before a few of them donned their team sweatshirts. It’s as if my kids have some sort of internal heater that keeps them warm even in the coldest of conditions. It could also be that my kids are crazy.

Regardless of which, what is with the wind around here? I suppose it’s always been this way. Parents and grandparents can probably tell the tale of days gone by that were just as windy, but spending seven hours on a soccer field with forty mile per hour gusts, with a 25 degree wind chill, is not my idea of a normal day in Redmond. I suppose I’ve become expectant to some degree. I know it’s coming, for sure, and yet it surprises me every time.

Just a couple of days ago, we were at a track meet for my oldest and the wind would not stop. I observed scores of other parents who were all playing the patient game and doing their best not to leave early and let their kid figure out how to get home. We paced around waiting for the next event, sighing because it was going to start a little later than originally scheduled. As events would end, kids would make their way over to where most of us stood and it was funny to watch as parents would acknowledge their child’s success but would do so as they were quickly making their way to the car, like little stone statues, waddling along because their knees and hips were frozen. We were no different. The race ended and before my daughter could wander off with her buddies, we had done a happy dance of sorts and were sensing the warmth of the car.

I would tell you that I don’t mind the wind but that wouldn’t be truthful. Honestly, the cold is just fine by me, I can layer up, but the wind is something special. I’ve been thinking for a while now, that we need to build some sort of a wind break, kind of like a big bug deflector, and place it right along Helmholtz. This doesn’t help my friends in Eagle Crest but this is just my way of telling them I wished they lived closer. I’m thinking the deflector could be really tall, so the wind would stay up until past Prineville, letting them know we care about our friends to the east. Although, this hasn’t been scientifically tested, so it might just wipe out everyone from Powell Butte on. I’m thinking this could work. It would at least be interesting to try.

Obviously this wouldn’t cut out the cold but if the wind were gone, the cold would be much more bearable. And then I wouldn’t have to think my kids were completely nuts, maybe just a little weird. I can’t figure out where they get it from.