I demand a recount!

(Note: This is not a political post. I am so tired of the election already.)

So I know Chicago is the offically Windy City. Whatever. It was named that in 1876!!!! Times have changed, and if they hadn't, chances are I would be sporting this lovely frock as I hammered out this blog entry using a quill ink pen on parchment paper:

Almost 133 years have passed since Chicago was given the Windy City title by the Cincinnati Inquirer. And I may be going on wind-smacked limb by saying this, but I am betting wind patterns/wind force have changed since then.

As I walked home this afternoon in a hail storm (yes, hail...and yes, ouch) and my lovely pink umbrella was rendered completely useless by the dramatic wind gusts, I thought to myself, D.C. is a seriously windy city. I actually have this thought every morning as I cross the street/wind tunnel in front of my building and nearly get knocked on my bottom.

I never, ever expected DC to be this windy although I guess I could insert some entirely lame hot air/politician joke here. But if you have ever been here in the winter, you know that it is honestly not that cold temperature-wise. It is the bitter wind that cuts through every fiber of your being that is cold.

After two winters here, I finally had to invest in the wind-resistant Patagonia Au Train winter jacket this year. It's not the cutest jacket in the world (although my black jacket is infinitely more fashionable than the brown one in this picture) but it's water-repellent, wind-resistant, not bulky, and actually has a really flattering cut. It's seriously amazing how much wind it, um, resists. I love it. My sister so lovingly informed me that it looks like scuba suit. At least in the event that I am needed to perform water rescue in the Potomac, I will be ready and dry (but I will probably grow a third arm or something from all of the pollution in the river).

But as I was walking home tonight, I realized that I am in desperate need of a wind-resistant umbrella. My umbrella is on its last spoke. I am just waiting for that final gust to completely knock it out. I think I like this one from Manhattanite:

Before I invest in it though, I need to investigate just how wind-resistant it really is.

So I am putting it out there, I really think D.C. is a contender for the "Windy City" title. I will be in Chicago in April so I will perform a very thorough scientific comparison and report back!