YAY! IT'S COLD!

If you happened to be cruising (or walking) down 19th St. in Birmingham, Alabama this morning around 9:45, you could have seen a very happy gal trotting along, bundled up in her black winter coat. That was me, folks, en route to the downtown branch of our bank.

I mean it was really cold out there! Like, face-hardening cold! Runny-nose cold! Of course, the sun is swiftly rising, and an hour from now it'll probably be like 65 degrees, but who cares: I was out walking. It was cold. I wasn't wearing gloves, and I needed them. YES!

The first time I tried to leave the building, I was wearing a hoodie and a hat and scarf; that's all. It's not the first time I've underdressed here. I just get so used to it being warm. But no, not today! I had to return upstairs for the Big Furry-Collar Coat! I was one with my Chicago pals, they who are so far away and so bundled up in the post-snowstorm deep freeze! Could you feel my soul aligning with yours, my brothers and sisters?

(Excited, yes. Small pleasures, indeed.)

The Regions Bank building (until very recently, the AmSouth building -- oh, the bank mergers and takeovers!) reminds me slightly of the Thompson Center, though the only true points of comparison are a food/retail court and central escalators. Today I discovered there's a Planet Smoothie in there! Excitement #2 of the morning! If you know me well enough, you know that I have an unhealthy fondness for a straw-delivered lunch of pulverized frozen fruit, juice, and various nutritional supplements that are supposed to outweigh the obvious negative of excess sugar. Now I know that said lunch is only four blocks away. Uh-oh. (Planet Smoothie is no Jamba Juice, though [yes, I've already tried it at another location].)

There's also a shop called "Oh, Wow I." What an odd name, I thought. Oh, Wow I what? Maxed out my credit card on Hummel figurines? Just got away with shoplifting? Think I recognize this cashier from my online dating service?

Oh, but I was wrong. Once I viewed the store from another angle I realized the sign read, "Oh, Wow!"

Ah. But "Oh, Wow I" is a much better name, is it not?

Playlist for the adventure (courtesy iPod on shuffle):
"The Moon," Cat Power
"Everybody Knows This is Nowhere," Neil Young
"Marigold," Devendra Banhart
"I Know There's Something Going On," Frida
"Here Comes The Sun," the Beatles
"Good to Know," Edith Frost
--Plus one overheard conversation, which was, surprise surprise, about how cold it is.