This is the sort of column I do every so often, writing about five topics that have been brought to mind in recent days.

This past week has been a little on the odd side, given the weather that we’ve been experiencing.

From a sunny 70 degrees one day, to blustery cold the next, of course on a morning I need to go cover a tennis match.

That’s the thing about working as a sports writer/photographer, is dealing with the elements.

Back in my days as a player, it wasn’t too difficult to play through it, as being in action on the field keeps you warm and loose.

But roaming the sidelines with a camera and taking notes, doesn’t exactly get the blood flowing to keep me warm.

It wasn’t nearly as bad, though, as one particular experience when I was working in Wisconsin and went to cover snowmobile races in Eagle River.

I believe the temperature topped out that day at negative 10 degrees, and while I was bundled up like the younger brother in “A Christmas Story,” the cold would freeze up my camera every 10 minutes or so.

I would have to go inside and let the camera warm up for a half hour, head back out and get another 10 minutes of picture taking in before it would freeze up again.

Then there were those nights during the rainy season in Florida, where I learned that youth baseball games, especially tournaments, do not get rained out.

They will wait out the rain, work the field over once it stops and continue on, sometimes until the wee hours of the night/morning.

I spent more than a few nights at the ballfields in Okeechobee, Florida, covering games of 10- and 11-year-old kids, waiting through rain delays and not getting home until 2 a.m.

Which brings to mind another aspect of being a sports writer, though it is not as applicable here, wanting games to go fast.

The paper I worked at in Florida came out three days per week, but we worked almost as a daily in the sense of Tuesday night games would be in Wednesday’s paper, Thursday games in Friday’s paper, etc.

In Colorado, the paper came out six days a week, so whatever night games were played, the stories would be in the next day’s edition.

Which is why, in those cases, the outcome of the game isn’t as important as the brevity of it.

I have to write a story about the game, whether the hometown team wins or loses, so my main hope is that the game goes as quickly as possible.

Which is why I really don’t like overtime games, or rain delays, or temperatures that make my camera freeze up.

As an alternative to cold, I was hoping to get some heat when I was tabbed as a judge for last Saturday’s chili cook-off at the Powell Eagles.

I’ve always had a taste for spicy food, and it’s gotten to the point that I find a few dabs of Tabasco sauce makes a great topper on a slice of pizza.

And while the first time I ordered the “hot and naked chicken wings” from the Blue Lagoon Saloon in Florida, it took me three days to finish because of the heat content, that became my regular order there a couple times a month.

And so I was hoping for some samples of chili that ranged from a nice little sizzle to one where I might fart and anyone standing behind me would need medical attention.

Especially after spending the morning taking pictures at the above-mentioned tennis match.

And while I did taste some very good chilis, I got a sample or more of each entry, with some unique and great flavors, none of them really packed the sort of spicy punch I was expecting and hoping for.

Which perhaps is why I spent Sunday making my own chili, that I always make sure to amp up to at least “Butt Burner” level.

And why I just might see about entering in the next chili cook-off that is offered.

To bring some extra heat on these still too-wintery days.