Local weather news... doo-doo-doo-doo. The good news for today is that there was no difference between today's high and low temperatures in the city of Date. That's right, the temperature in the morning was the same as the temperature in the early afternoon, as is the temperature right now. Very strange phenomenon. Speaking of weird weather, back home in the SF Bay Area I'm very familiar with, what I call, the "Ooh, yikes, morning." I should clarify this Bay Area winter weather phenomenon with the typical situation that lends itself to the "Ooh, yikes, morning." I wake up, pull myself out of bed, and look out the window. It's bright and sunny. Not a cloud in the sky. Excited, I dress myself with a T-shirt and a pair of shorts. I step outside and my eyes get all huge, after which I yell, "Ooh, yikes!" hence the name. Bay Area winters are tricky. They think every day is April Fools' Day. It can look like it's 80 degrees from one side of the window while it's really 45 degrees outside.
Anyway, back to Japan. So, the good news was that the high and low for today were the same. The bad news for today is that the high and low for today was and is -1 C. That's about 29 degrees fahrenheit. Yep, that's right. I had a sweater and a jacket on. A knit cap and scarf. And gloves. The only part of my body that weren't covered were my eyes. I looked like an Al Qaeda member. Actually, gimme a pair of black, thick rimmed glasses and I'd have looked like the main character from the movie "A Christmas Story." I think his name was Ralphy. "You'll shoot yer eye out!" Oh, that was a great movie.