Oh, winter. How you amuse me, with your highs that don’t even get above zero — FAHRENHEIT. The man in the radio said it would be around ten degrees tomorrow (that’s -12C), and I thought, ‘Oh, not to bad, then.’ When he said it would be in the teens later in the week, I might have let out a whoop of joy. Okay, I didn’t — but I might have.
The cold is the hardest part of winter for me. When non-Minnesotan friends wonder at the fact that I’m almost always too cold, I explain by saying that although I start feeling chilly around 55F, it’s all the same to me from there to forty below. That’s not exactly true, of course; there’s being cold as in, ‘Gosh, I wish I had a pair of slippers/heavier jumper/great big parka,’ and then there’s cold as in, ‘AAAAUGHH.’
I very nearly reached that point last night, saying one last goodbye to friends as we made our way back to our cars. (The photo above is of the American-stlye biscuits I brought to our gathering.) I remained composed, but part of me wanted to sprint the last fifteen feet to my car while screaming, just from the sheer cold of it. I think that pretty well describes winter in Minnesota. Also, have you ever felt your internal organs shiver?
There’s also the whole lack of daylight thing, which makes the evening start around a quarter to four and drag on forEVER, as you keep checking the clock to see if it’s an acceptable time to go to bed. The cold and the dark don’t really matter if you can get out and spend the time with friends, but the cold and the dark make it hard to do that, sometimes. So I keep trying to come up with ways to fill the evening time, which means that almost every item of clothing I own is clean right now, and my dresser drawers can shut for the first time in months (the result of weeding and folding).
Never fear, though — the days start getting longer in less than a week now! Of course, we’re only just approaching winter, really. We’ve still got to get through January, and awful, awful February. But never mind; just think about next summer! Oh, how wonderful it will be. I’m going to plant corn and cauliflower and rutabagas next year. A Minnesotan summer is practically perfection.
Well, except for the mosquitoes. . .
I don’t think I could live in Minnesota – I start getting cold at 20C (68F). Current outdoor temperature in London is 2C (35F), which sounds positively balmy in comparison. I’m still not going out though.
brrrr…i think i can understand what you mean about the cold (although its not as cold as your weather!) We dont have gr
eat heating in our flat so sometimes (more times than id like) you can see your breath inside!!
That just seems intrinsically wrong!
I see you hate your winter like we hate our summer, which feels like most of the year. We hibernate in deep summer and can’t keep our plants alive due to of the burning and constant sun. We are finally having a rare rainy day and the gray sky is a welcome site. Why can’t we swap some days so we are more balanced….
Your post made me laugh out loud! I am originally from Minnesota myself and totally concur with your ‘picture’ of the cold. I moved to the DC area 2 years ago and the people here are so wimpy…it gets to 40 and they pull out their winter coats, hats, ski gloves… I’ve yet to wear my winter coat. when they start complaining about the 30 degree weather I spout my favorite saying, “It’s not cold until the snot freezes in your nose.”
Now the summers here are a whole other story…