I’m sure that, by some weather-related, temperature standards across the U.S., -8 degrees here in the upper sector of The Empire State could be considered downright balmy. Joking with friends, I just made a comment that, when it warms up to zero, I’m heading outside to sunbathe, armed with Frozen Margaritas. Everyone is invited over…just bring your own towels for swimming along with an icepick for the pool.
Not a good day for attempting to see if one’s tongue sticks to a metal pole but I’m sure some fool will try it just for their 15 minutes of fame..or however long it takes for some EMS team to remove that stuck organ from its captor.
The weather services have labeled our current little cold snap as an Arctic Air Invasion while forecasting the potential of a whopper of a mid-week storm heading for the Northeast along with the drama of predicting it will be one more Storm of the Century.
Been there done that…yawn.
Hey, we’re snow-pros, ready to assume our places in long supermarket lines, struggling to push shopping carts filled with the basics..bread, milk, toilet tissue and beer. We’ll start cooking everything in our collective refrigerators/freezers, producing enough menu choices to last for at least the next three to five months. Coal for the coal stoves, wood for wood stoves and fireplaces, electric heaters, kerosene heaters (not many, kerosene is outrageous, surpassing even gas pump prices), oil and propane tanks topped-off as well.
After all, we aren’t like various southern states where snow and ice come as a shock; where one, or two, local counties in the deep south have just one snowplow with which to clear roads. Like I said, we northerners are seasoned experts with that white stuff and all the havoc it can create.
We’re ready for whatever Mother Nature hurls at us. We are tough east-coasters with 4WD, AWD, plows, snow blowers, ice melt, cat litter and every shovel design offered by our local Home Depots. Most of us have extra gloves, scarves, food items, emergency flares, flashlights and more stashed in our vehicles should we become snow-stranded or suffer an accident.
Hunker down and bring it on! Mommies have time to fortify themselves with some “me time” to bolster their mental defenses before the kiddies are home from school yet again. It’s Winter almost wherever one looks except for the state of Florida, the only state with no snow events. Hate this cold weather? Move to The Sunshine State where the roads are full of cars driven by headless drivers who, when they aren’t driving through the windows of some Chik-fil-a, chug along for miles with the turn signal flashing; where there’s a CVS on every, and I mean every corner; where once thriving orange groves are demolished to make way for another housing development. The positives are great beaches on both Florida coasts and growing manufactured entertainment produced at Disney, Busch Gardens, Universal and more making the state a wonderful venue for vacations.
For me, the only endearing part of Florida is the fact that one of my daughters, her husband and my Grandsons live there.
But…there’s no snow.
Hold on a minute…I’m not Florida-bashing, just making an observation here so…relax all you Floridians! All I’m saying here is that you can take the girl out of the Northeast but…you cannot take the Northeast out of the girl. Once this arctic freeze passes, along with a few more snowstorms, we can look forward to Spring…then Summer…and Fall!
And then…Winter will return.
Flicker of Inspiration Prompt #31: Cold
Have you ever been cold?
Almost a year ago we were freezing our posteriors off here in the Northeast. Beyond cold or any other description of the weather. Thought this post was worth sharing for this prompt. Today, January 1, 2012…temperature outside is a balmy 32 degrees. Haven’t seen snow since a freak storm in October and no precip is on the horizon. Mother Nature is seriously slacking-off.
