Winterizing

This winter will mark my fourth winter here in Chicago. Still, each time it comes around, it seems to catch me a little by surprise just how COLD the cold is. In reality, I like to just imagine that my whims have power over the weather; if I just pretend that it's not snowy or cold then it can't be that bad, right? Riiiiiiiight.

For the most part, I do ok dressing warmly. I've got a warm coat and gloves, I even wear a hat (when it gets REALLY cold).. but somehow it seems that my feet are rather neglected. It wasn't until my second winter here that I decided that I needed to upgrade my winter footwear; my tennis shoes just weren't cutting it. So, I bought some Keens:

this pic is from an earlier post,
and they've seen some more wear since then,
but they're still great and I still LOVE them!

These actually do a reasonable job of keeping my feet warm, and they're cute!! But, however cute they may be, deep down I had to admit that they aren't actually very good at keeping the snow off my pants or socks. Still, I rationalized: I would just avoid the snow piles and puddles on the way into work. Besides, my pants usually dry out before I'd go home at night anyway... It doesn't snow that often in Chicago, right?

Then, last year, I moved and the train ride part of my commute got shorter, but the walking part got longer. Consequently, the wetness factor was significantly increased. And maybe I'm just getting old, but I find that my tolerance of coldness is decreasing.. So, finally, in anticipation of the 2009 winter, which is pretty much already here, I caved and got me some winter boots. 100% waterproof and fully insulated, purportedly able to handle up to -20F. And, more importantly, they look awesome:
Old Man Winter's got nothing on me!