The author of a blog I frequently read recently wrote, "My car keeps telling me it's 32 degrees, and I think you'll admit that's pretty chilly, no matter where you live."
Yeah, except if you happen to live in Minnesota or Wisconsin or really anywhere in the Upper Midwest. Thirty-two degrees here means we can shovel slush instead of throwing salt on the driveway. It also means we might save $100 on our heating bill this month. It means we don't have to worry about our pipes freezing or our car doors getting frozen shut.
This weekend the little weather bug on my computer screen keep blinking red as it struggled to stay out of the negative two-digits. That's below zero for anyone reading this who is lucky enough never to have experienced this vision on a thermometer. The blinking red was a warning to all to limit your outdoor exposure to running to and from indoors to your car. Which was probably left running.
The company where I was formerly employed was headquartered in Atlanta. Our office in Minneapolis frequently had to collaborate on projects with employees in the Atlanta office. One November morning I had a conference call with a particularly outspoken Atlanta employee. He asked me how I was that morning and I informed him that the Twin Cities had experienced the season's first snowfall the night before. The first snowfall tends to be bittersweet. It means that our summer and fall are truly over and the long winter has arrived. But at the same time most will tell you that the first snowfall is also the most beautiful and the most exciting.
My Southern coworker quickly said without any apparent thought, "Oh ick! Haven't you ever considered moving?"
He was dead serious. Not like the kind of joking we do with each other all year long asking why we still live here.
I felt like asking him the same thing in the middle of August when the humidity and air quality is so bad in Atlanta that he couldn't even take his newborn daughter outside for risk of respiratory problems.
Each climate, I'm sure, has its upsides and downsides but we all love and crave what we know. We have four very distinct seasons in Minnesota and I love each one of them. Only having two or three would feel as empty and boring as deciding to skip Christmas or the Fourth of July one year. Nothing beats spending the whole day in your bathing suit because it's too hot to wear anything else. Or cutting down your own Christmas tree while it's snowing. And nothing is truly more appreciated as taking a warm weather vacation in the middle of winter.
Each season provides us all with something to love and something to complain about. But don't worry. If you really hate it that much you only have to wait a few months for a brand new season to arrive. Spring is right around the corner. Right?
Yeah, except if you happen to live in Minnesota or Wisconsin or really anywhere in the Upper Midwest. Thirty-two degrees here means we can shovel slush instead of throwing salt on the driveway. It also means we might save $100 on our heating bill this month. It means we don't have to worry about our pipes freezing or our car doors getting frozen shut.
This weekend the little weather bug on my computer screen keep blinking red as it struggled to stay out of the negative two-digits. That's below zero for anyone reading this who is lucky enough never to have experienced this vision on a thermometer. The blinking red was a warning to all to limit your outdoor exposure to running to and from indoors to your car. Which was probably left running.
The company where I was formerly employed was headquartered in Atlanta. Our office in Minneapolis frequently had to collaborate on projects with employees in the Atlanta office. One November morning I had a conference call with a particularly outspoken Atlanta employee. He asked me how I was that morning and I informed him that the Twin Cities had experienced the season's first snowfall the night before. The first snowfall tends to be bittersweet. It means that our summer and fall are truly over and the long winter has arrived. But at the same time most will tell you that the first snowfall is also the most beautiful and the most exciting.
My Southern coworker quickly said without any apparent thought, "Oh ick! Haven't you ever considered moving?"
He was dead serious. Not like the kind of joking we do with each other all year long asking why we still live here.
I felt like asking him the same thing in the middle of August when the humidity and air quality is so bad in Atlanta that he couldn't even take his newborn daughter outside for risk of respiratory problems.
Each climate, I'm sure, has its upsides and downsides but we all love and crave what we know. We have four very distinct seasons in Minnesota and I love each one of them. Only having two or three would feel as empty and boring as deciding to skip Christmas or the Fourth of July one year. Nothing beats spending the whole day in your bathing suit because it's too hot to wear anything else. Or cutting down your own Christmas tree while it's snowing. And nothing is truly more appreciated as taking a warm weather vacation in the middle of winter.
Each season provides us all with something to love and something to complain about. But don't worry. If you really hate it that much you only have to wait a few months for a brand new season to arrive. Spring is right around the corner. Right?
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