What Do You Think? … We’re Living in Florida or Something?

The wind has been blowing and the temperatures are low. It’s a typical Indiana winter. The thing that I find odd about this state is how people react to the winter. A lot of people act as if this is all so strange and unusual and they seem to have no idea how to handle the fact that it is winter almost half the year! Ok, folks…here’s the deal. It gets very cold here. This does not mean you have to cancel everything and huddle in your homes for fear of death. What it does mean is that you need to be smart. Wear appropriate clothes. Hats, gloves, good coats, boots, scarves… Let your cars warm up. Make sure they are full of gas. Have a scraper. Have jumper cables. Check your battery before winter comes. If you have a garage, make sure it is cleaned out before winter so you can get your car in it. Slow down when the roads are bad. Some might think this one is common sense, but many Indiana drivers apparently don’t realize this. I drive a 4wd truck when it is bad, but still I slow down… yet I get tailgated in the midst of blizzards! Craziness, I tell you!

Crazy people out ice fishing on a Michigan lake. What’s with ice fishing anyway? Fishing is dull enough as it is… add frigid temperatures to it and it gets more exciting? I think not.

So anyway, here we are. It’s cold. They are canceling school for the cold. What is that? You know, I can understand if you have little kids who have to walk a distance or wait outside for a while for the bus. (Although, back in my day we had to wait outside in the frigid NY cold, waiting for the bus, and we survived.) I think we are just raising a generation of wussy kids. As I drove about today I saw several kids playing outside which was “so cold they had to cancel school.” I saw more people ice fishing, snowmobiling, and going to the malls. Obviously, it is not too cold to do fun stuff…just too cold to go to school. Maybe I don’t take this stuff as seriously as I should, but I read that in Minneapolis it was 42 below yesterday. Now that is cold and school closing worthy. Meh. Whatever. I am still just amazed by it all. It’s winter… brace yourself and get ready for it. That’s what I say.

This is me in my Columbia cold weather coat. I bought it when I first moved here in 1993. Yep, my coat is 14 years old. How crazy is that! But I say this… it is a super warm coat and I love it.