It's been cold lately. Really, really cold.

I've always been a fan of wintertime myself, enjoying the brisk air, snow, and even the late evening quiet with the family.

However, when the temperatures drop like they did this week, I can't espouse love for this kind of weather.

Lately it seems that weather trends are nearly as unpredictable as...well, I can't think of anything more unpredictable that the weather in Alleghany County.

I can remember hearing a saying repeatedly as I grew up in these mountains: "If you don't like the weather, just wait a while."

That, indeed, seems to be the case, but even more so for the last two winters or so. Even locals have been quite surprised by the wild swings in temperature lately. In a period of two weeks it's gone from days in the 60s with lows in the 50s and then down to days in the teens and lows in the single digits.

According to information from the Laurel Springs Upper Mountain Research Station, the average temperature for the past seven days has been 25.6. The low recorded there was 4.2.

Adding in wind chill factor, it gets even more impressive. The average windchill was -.1 and the low windchill was -12.5. That sounds more like the weather forecast for Anchorage, Alaska than Sparta, N.C.

With figures like that, it definitely feels more like winter than the hybrid winter-fall-spring season that's been upon us for some time now. I normally enjoy warm days, but when it goes from the 50s to the single digits, it gets rather hard to get the body accustomed to the temperature.

We've seen snow, fog, rain, wind, sun and clouds all in about a 30- day period. At least it never gets dull here.

The last few nights have featured single-digit temperatures. While the word "five" definitely saves effort over saying such longer words as "forty-seven" or say, "fifty-nine," that's about the only benefit to having a single digit temperature.

Having prepared less than admirably, my wood cache on the porch was nearing critical level after the snow and subsequent freeze. Luckily I was able to get a refill going on Monday evening out of one of my two remaining stacks. Even though the temperatures rose into the 20s for a high and the sun was shining, last week's snow was still hanging on and with a slight breeze, it still felt absolutely arctic outside the LaRue estate.

Thankfully I was dressed for the weather. I donned my heavy coveralls, my 'boggin' and my heavy gloves. I looked in the mirror as I tugged at the knit hat and chuckled as I said, "Yo, Adrian" to myself. I chuckled once more as I peered at my face with the hat pulled low and the glasses poking out.

It was one of those visual comedy things that happens in life, like watching someone else trip or realizing you've had a good-sized chunk of broccoli in between your front teeth for several hours. In case you were among the 200 or so people in the world who missed the first Rocky movie, Sylvester Stallone's wife-to-be worked in a pet shop and wore glasses when they met. Her trademark was having a knit cap pulled down low over her face, which gave her the necessary 'nerdish' appearance for the film. Of course, she didn't have facial hair like me. Well, Ididn't see it if she did, so either she didn't or she must have waxed.

At any rate, my 'nerdish' appearance was strictly optional, but I'll take comfort over fashion any day. After all, a really cool guy with frostbitten ears is only cool in the literal sense of the word, as in frigid.

As I pulled the truck through the crusty snow to the firewood, I realized that I still have yet to cut even one stick of wood this year. Everything I've burned is from the remains of last year's leftovers.

I might note here that I ended up stacking up quite a stockpile of wood over the past two years, but that may be leaving quickly this year. While not intentional, it may turn out to be beneficial. It was definitely time to try and burn up all the old firewood reserves that Ihad amassed. After all, some of it was cut from fallen trees to begin with and wouldn't make it through another storage year in good condition.

The difference is that Iusually cut enough 'green' wood to stack up and store for a year so that it will be seasoned for the next year. For instance, I finished cutting in the early spring last year after putting in quite a bit of time at it. I'd always rather have too much wood than too little, so maybe I will have time to get out in the early spring and get a few loads stacked up.

In my estimation, I've been burning through about a truckload each month and I have about two or three truckloads left. Yes, it's probably going to be close on having enough to finish out this season. I'm also thankful that I've not been forced into cutting wood in January and February like Idid a few years ago. I can remember cutting up trees in Piney Creek with the temperatures in the 20s and snow on the ground.

While I may have complained at the time that it was cold enough to spit ice cubes, it all worked out in the long run. Such lessons taught me to be better prepared in the future. Well, at least until this year. How soon I forget.

One fellow even gave me some wood that was already cut and stacked that same year. Even though it had been lying there for a few years and was starting to deteriorate, it was a godsend for keeping the house nice and warm for the rest of that winter.

It's been warm and comfortable at my house in recent weeks. Since I'm planning a cold-weather vacation to a warm weather destination coming up soon, I'm hoping it stays absolutely frigid. After all, it would seem like a waste to leave 60 for 65 or 70. But it won't be difficult at all to justify leaving 5 for 75.