Let me start by saying I am NOT a winter person. Not at all. I was born and raised in Florida and my blood and my body just are not adapted to the cold. Anything below 75 degrees has me reaching for the carbs and the sweats. The two years I spent living in the D.C. area - one of those years marked by a "100-year snowstorm event" that completely buried my Miata for a full week - still wake me from my dreams with the shivers. Now I live in Texas and I have solemnly vowed never to move any farther north. All subsequent moves must be in the southern direction. Note: I reserve the right to change my mind and begin trekking northward should this global warming trend continue. By my calculations Montreal will be a beach resort by 2069.
But even here, in moderately temperate Texas, it does get cold and we've been in the midst of an unusual cold and wet spell. Again, here in Texas even if it does get cold (like 32 degrees) it doesn't last long. Usually within two days or so, you are back in the 70s and taking the top down on the Miata, basking in the glory of your sensible decision to live in a sensible climate. But not this year. It's been cold, cold and relentlessly grey. The only upside is a "snow day" we got last week when the roads iced over. It's endlessly amusing to sit home all day watching the local media frenzy at the impending doom of the "ice storm".
What makes all this even worse is that I am a school employee and I am Pavlovian-ly (this is a reference to behaviorism and slobbering dogs) attached to the school schedule. We are conditioned to begin school by counting down to the Labor Day holiday which is usually only a few weeks away. Then there's a longish uninterrupted stretch until "Fall Break" in early October. "Longish" being only four weeks in "real" time but more like four months in "public education" time. Then the real fun begins. Another four weeks until Thanksgiving break and then another three-and-a-half weeks to the granddaddy of all school breaks: Christmas. Or "Winter Break" in public education-speak. Then after that long, lovely stretch of free time, we are back in January with only MLK Day to look forward to. And now the long, slow plod to spring break, made more difficult by the intractable cold - and my friends to the north can just shut up. I know in Northern terms 30s and 40s isn't "cold"; it's sandal weather. But I'm a Floridian and we remain proudly candy-assed when it comes to the cold. So I drag through the days, never warm no matter how tropically high the thermostat is set. My winter energy use is probably responsible for that big chunk of ice that fell off Canada not too long ago. I make no apologies. I'm thinking on this cold, gray January day that maybe global warming can be a good thing. Imagine a swimming pool with an infinity edge at the top of Mt. Everest. Of course, I'd never go there; I'm afraid of heights.
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