Good flying weather was forecast for the next day, so I drove out to the airport. Shortly after taking this picture my Canon Shureshot stopped working. I brushed the snow off Romeo. This turned out to be a mistake. Overnight the bare wings picked up a gritty thin layer of corn snow.
Any roughness can interfere with airflow, decreasing lift and increasing stall speed.
While a heater warmed up the engine, the Hillsboro Aviation ground crew and I tried to de-ice the airplane. The de-ice fluid froze. I asked around and was told to try real antifreeze from a gas station. By now the heater had been running for a while, so I started the engine, warmed it up, shut it down and buttoned it up. I spread antifreeze concentrate on the wings with a wet rag.