Moisture and Temperature

So I walked to work again for the first time since we moved in September. It took longer than I expected because I missed estimating the mileage. I thought it was about 3 miles, but it turned out to be 4.5. Oddly enough, it only took me 15 minutes longer to walk than I expected. I had given myself 1.25 hours, and it took me 1.5. I plan to keep walking on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. I've also invited a couple people from work to join me, if they'd like to park their cars at my house and walk in with me.

Today, when I left the house, the sun wasn't up, and it was terribly foggy. I had to take my glasses off. It was cold enough that my breath steamed them up every time I breathed out. As the sun came up, it melted the fog away. It's a beautiful day out there!

I started out wearing a sweatshirt because of the fog and the cold, but by the time I was halfway up the hill, I had to take it off. So I hiked the rest of the way up the hill with bare arms. What I found interesting about this was the way my skin felt to the touch. I expected that the outside of my arms would get cold and clammy. My hair already was wet on top, just from the fog, so the outside of my arms getting cold and wet made sense. What actually happened was that my arms stayed warm on the outside, but got cold on the underside, where they were close to the rest of my body. I have no idea what caused that!

Over the hill there is a big fountain with an ashlar step waterfall and a wood bridge over the pond. I figured there would be spray from the fountain, but I couldn't get that much more wet than the fog had already made me. However, I didn't feel like I got sprayed by the fountain because as I walked across that bridge, I noticed an extreme change in temperature. All of a sudden, I was warm. It must have been at least 60F on the bridge! I know it's supposed to be more temparate near bodies of water, but I am pretty sure that doesn't create a 15 degree differential at a little tiny pond, less than 2 feet deep! I think what caused the difference was that fountains here use recycled water, so it was warm because people were up and taking showers and the water stayed warm clear to the fountain. At least, that was the only reasonable explanation.

I'm doing my part to save the environment (and my wallet, and my body) by walking to work 3 days a week. I also drive a hybrid, when I do drive. Some people drive ethanol powered vehicles, but according to these reports, they aren't actually helping the environment any! What are YOU doing?