Explanation

Long-time readers who have the inclination to ponder such trivialities might wonder what happened to the gung-ho Winter campers that used to write this blog. The short explanation is spelled with four letters, capital "e", "s", "m", and "é". She still has a pretty high ratio of surface area to volume and therefore loses heat to the environment more quickly than us larger mammals. I got a first-hand lesson in this biological truism a few weeks back...

...when, on a bright and exceptionally cold (well below freezing) day, I took E for a stroller ride through the Northside with the idea of inducing a nap. We spotted this mid-60s Beetle there.

And this Beetle.

And this r.u.s.t.y. Karmann Ghia. Wow. Sometimes I'll stumble across something like this and feel a little better about our cars.

And this late bay window.

I took her to the top of the pedestrian bridge over the train tracks because I know she kind of likes trains. One went right under us and the noise and blast of heat simultaneously scared and thrilled her. So I didn't notice at first that her crying was becoming less gleeful and more stressful. I took her hand and it was ice cold. Then I realized that I'd only put one blanket on her. I thought to myself about how cold I was, and realized that she must feel much, much colder. I got her home as fast as I could but she was pretty cold--and really, really mad--by the time she got back in the house. She seems not to have become gunshy about the cold since, but it was enough to scare me. 

I think we won't be taking any Winter camping trips with Tater Tot this season. Maybe next Winter when she's bigger.