That harsh cold was hard, but there were a couple of beautiful and fun things.

The windchills that hit Maine Friday and all day Saturday were brutal. Brutal is not an exaggeration. It was rough. I can't find numbers (I'm sure they will be reported) but fire departments across the state were dealing with frozen and burst pipes up and down the state! I'm no exception. Of course, it happens on a weekend. That actually kicks off the 10 things that made that subzero weather less sucky!

10. Wayne's Plumbing and Heating

When you learn about water pouring into your basement at 7 pm on a Saturday night...during a polar vortex, good friggin' luck getting a plumber. Sunday morning I made one call to Wayne's Plumbing and Heating (158 St. John Street · Portland 450-9623). Within an hour he was at my place, found the pipes buried in a wall, fixed all three pipes, and was on his way for a price that made me almost cry it was so reasonable. Bad luck with frozen pipes? Of course, but it could have been so much worse and I am SO grateful to Sherry and Kenny for quickly responding and being so damn great.

9. Frozen Spaghetti Fun

Why should Wisconsin have all the fun with subzero weather? I need to cut back on carbs anyway, so freezing spaghetti as a fun outdoor (brief) activity was the way to go!

8. Frozen Spaghetti Art

This was fun and only possible with extreme temperatures. And of course, this led to me thinking, I could have 'the force'.

7. 'The Force' is Feeding Me!

Listen I don't even really like Star Wars stuff, but who doesn't dig 'the force'? Even better when you can master it as a non-believer!

6. Sea Smoke

You need really cold air to hit much warmer water and whamo - sea smoke. It doesn't happen that often (thank God) but when it does, it's truly magical.

5. More Sea Smoke!

Matt Barnard is a friend of mine from the radio business. He used to work with us but now is with a rival company. We should be sworn enemies, but he's too damn nice and too damn good at what he does to not root him on wherever he is. He's one of those decent humans with a great eye for capturing the beauty in a polar vortex.

4. Okay, Last Sea Smoke - Promise

Matt took these pictures at Popham Beach during the sunrise, with a nice 16 below zero temperature. Those temperatures will be something we bring up in August when we are cursing our air conditioner for not working.

3. Frozen Lobster Trap

Ice formed on anything water touched outside for 36 hours in Maine. Where this normally wouldn't ice up, it looked so cool. When you can't feel your face, you look for beauty where normally there's none.

2. Quality Indoor Time With Your Furry Friends

This is Casco. Casco was my warm blanket on the couch as we both looked at each other wondering, how long can she hold her pee-pee?

1. Wetting Your Pants...Then Freezing Them

Honestly, we were able to do this last year and we weren't even close to being as cold as that Saturday was! I get such joy over seeing a pair of jeans stand on its own. I know this weather was just hard - but did you see any joy?