Slept in this morning.  Instead of rising before 5 am, I stumbled into the bathroom closest to our bedroom, deposited the overnight accumulation of a full bladder and returned to the bed and its warm covers for another four hours of sleep as the wind howled outside and the low temperature hovered around 30 degrees.

The overnight accumulation of news could wait.  Coco, our large black cat who considers our bed her territory alternated between cuddling up to us or sitting on the nightstand by the window to watch the blustering winds and undulating branches.

At 9 am, I poured a carafe of water into our Bunn coffee maker so it could create the first pot of caffeine for the day and I moved into my studio for the morning input of Tramadol, Losartan, Naproxen sodium and vitamins to aid the coffee in jump starting a body inhabited by various aches, pains and lethargy.

Sundays are a day off from the 45 minutes of gym routines that help start the other six days of the week.  The freezing temperatures offered a good excuse to avoid suiting up in leathers and ride one of our motorcycles down to Roanoke to join other self-abusing riders for breakfast.

Not that long ago, I would consider riding in freezing temperatures a challenge, not a roadblock, but I’m older now and perhaps a little wiser.  Then again, maybe not.

A few thoughts on this cold Sunday morning:

On Sundays, most Floyd Countians, we are told, spend part of the day in one of the county’s 72 churches.  Demographic studies, however, dispute that claim.

Those studies say 9,835 (64.4 percent) of Floyd County’s 15,755 residents have no allegiance to any church or religion while 25.5 percent say they are evangelical protestants and another 8.8 percent.  Catholics account for just 0.3 percent and one percent belong to other religions.

More than half of the county’s 72 churches are spin offs of other denominations because of a disagreement between parishioners.

In 2010, Floyd County had 8,062 non-believers.  The increase to 9,835 came in seven years.

Statistically, this is where Floyd County stands when compared to Virginia statewide averages:

Median household income below state average.

Unemployed percentage significantly below state average.

Black race population percentage significantly below state average.

Median age significantly above state average.

Foreign-born population percentage significantly below state average.

Renting percentage above state average.

House age above state average.

Number of college students significantly below state average.

A look at natural disasters in recent years:

The number of natural disasters in Floyd County (13) is near the US average (13).

Major Disasters (Presidential) Declared: 9
Emergencies Declared: 4

Causes of natural disasters: Floods: 5, Storms: 5, Hurricanes: 3, Winter Storms: 3, Blizzard: 1, Drought: 1, Heavy Rain: 1, Ice Storm: 1, Mudslide: 1, Snowfall: 1, Tornado: 1, Tropical Storm: 1, Wind: 1 (Note: Some incidents may be assigned to more than one category).

Most of us know that Floyd County is the birth home of NASCAR legend Curtis Turner (his birthplace is now a historical landmark).  Current NASCAR crew chief and race engineer Darian Grubb is also from Floyd (his mother was a classmate during my time as a student at Floyd County High School).

Did you also know that Folk musician Blind Alfred Reed, who played with Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family, is a Floyd County native, born on June 15, 1880.  So was major league pitcher Don Williams, born Sept. 11, 1931.  He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Athletics.

Just some of the things that I come across on a Sunday morning.