Cold in Kansas City

Prior to last week's three-day weekend, we had been loving the higher than average temperatures here in Kansas. Thanksgiving weekend stayed at a mild 60 degrees or so. The week before Christmas was nice too. But, I guess it couldn't last forever.

Just in time for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we were hit by an ice storm. Ice storms are a new phenomenon for me. Apparently, ice storms occur when there are two converging currents, with warm air above and cold air beneath. The precipitation starts out as rain, and by the time it reaches the ground, it's ice. It looks like very small pieces of hail. But, if you don't do anything to it, it turns to sheets of ice. The entire city had been glazed over. Our car, for example, was completely covered in about an eighth of an inch of ice. And this isn't like the frost that is on your windows on your average winter morning. This stuff is solid.

But, because of the ice storm, I learned the proper way of using an ice-scraper. Our friends David and Maria Torres were in town for an education conference in Overland Park. We were able to meet up with them and show them some good Kansas City Barbecue. During dinner, the ice storm found its way into the conversation as Maria mentioned how difficult it had been for her to scrape the windows of their rental car the day before. She said that she had discussed this with a Kansas City native at the conference, who informed her of the proper way of using the ice-scraper. You know those bumps or ridges on the back side of the scraper? Well, apparently those are there to score the ice before you scrape it. The next day I gave it a try and it worked like a charm. Who knew? You probably did, but I don't care because I learned something new.