According to my calendar, it's March 3rd. But according to my thermometer, it's more like mid-January. And we just had another six inches of snow dumped on us, just when the last of the dirty drifts from February's snow/ice extravaganza had finally melted off!
I note these things because this sort of situation used to happen every year when I was a kid, although the earliest cold snap usually happened around Thanksgiving, we almost always had snow by Christmas, and the final melt was over by mid-March. But the last time we had this much snow in recent memory was a few years back, when we got several rounds of 3-4 inches, including a surprise winter storm in early May. That year was so cold, I literally had to run the heat for half an hour to get the house hot enough for the inspector to properly test my AC...and that was in mid-May.
However, the weather has become wildly unpredictable; it might be what I consider a "normal winter" one year, with the temps being brrr-cold and appropriate precipitation falling...and the next, we might have light-jacket weather in December and tornado warnings in February (been there more than once). Summers are worse: the temps might be moderate, with so much rain that basements all over the state leak...or it could be like 2012, when we would have welcomed even a rip-roaring severe storm if only it would save the grass from crunching under our feet, and when the only flowers that thrived were the blue chicory growing along the highways. (That year, I watered my foundations so much, I was surprised the house didn't grow another story higher.)
But right now, the temperature is falling to an expected overnight low of a handful of degrees above zero, and tomorrow won't even reach 10 above. In other words, it's freakin' cold.
I mention all this because I've been a pedestrian all my life, and I know how to dress for whatever weather is out there. It's all common sense. Yet all around me, I see evidence that the general population is growing steadily wimpier. For example: hardly anybody shovels their sidewalks anymore. Even most of the businesses on my shank's-mare commute to work don't do it. Don't ask me why. I do mine whenever we get more than an inch of snow, just in case somebody might want to walk somewhere besides out in the road...but that, you see, is the other thing: people don't walk anymore to get places. Why would they, when they can drive? And those same businesses who won't shovel their sidewalks always plow out their parking lots. But hey, y'all--I notice which businesses don't do their sidewalks, and I choose where to shop accordingly. Because if they don't care how hard it is for me to walk past their building, then they don't want my money very badly, do they?
And then there's the fact that everything seems to shut down when it gets into the single digits. The list of churches that decided to cancel their evening services tonight was disheartening. I mean, there wasn't even any ice! And the parking lots, at least, would be plowed out, right? I mean, come on!!!
I get asked a lot why I walk all the time. Why I don't get a car. And don't I know I could get frostbite? Well...maybe. But if you're acclimated, the cold doesn't affect you like it does most of the hothouse flowers around you--the people who leave a heated house to get into a heated car (thanks to new technology, you can point a little remote and start that car from inside the house) and drive to a heated workplace. In fact, if you get out and walk in the extreme cold, you actually reap some health benefits. Like, fresher air...and when you're out while it's snowing, there's a clean crispness to the air that nobody has ever succeeded in imitating or bottling for sale. And you catch fewer colds, because you're not breathing the same indoor air as all your sick colleagues...or at least, not as much. Oh, and walking through a few inches of powdery snow is a lot like using an elliptical trainer at the gym!
So, yeah, that's why. Want to brave the elements yourself? Here's some common-sense advice:
1) Layer Up. A few light layers will warm you better than one big, heavy coat, and will give you better freedom of movement. And be sure you cover your head accordingly--you lose a lot of your body heat upward. Wear breathable inner layers so you don't get sweaty (and then feel clammy), and tough, insulated outer layers to keep the heat in. Wear a scarf around your neck and a hat that covers your ears, and if you have a hood on your outer layer, pull it up and cinch it tight. My fave head/neck hack is to wear an under layer with the hood pulled up, then a long scarf wrapped over my head, then around my neck (like in Fiddler on the Roof--in fact, that's where I got the idea!), then outer hood up and tight over it all.
And thermal underwear is your friend, especially during the deep-freeze times.
2) Take Time. Let's face it--it's gonna take you longer to get places when you walk, especially if there's snow and ice on the ground. So be prepared to take some extra time. As a general rule, I allow twice as much time on snowy days for my commute as I do on dry days. If you're not sure how long it will take you to get somewhere you need to be, try a "test walk" to the place on a day you don't have to be there, and keep track of your time.
3) Keep Your Balance! About that frozen stuff on the ground...you'll need proper footwear. For ice, there are neat spiked things that stretch right over your shoes (check the size range on the box); for snow, you can either wear plain boots and carry your regular shoes in a bag (an old plastic grocery bag is fine), or you can wear galoshes that fit right over your shoes (that's my usual thing). If you go for the galoshes, try not to walk on the bare ground in them--it will wear them out faster.
4) Carry What You Need. Remember that you won't be able to just dump a bunch of stuff in your car and go. You have to plan for the day, and only carry what you will need. Trust me, unless you have to carry a Crock-Pot to a church potluck, you can probably do it. Invest in a tough, roomy, good-quality messenger bag, and you can practically travel to another city and survive (yes, you can even fit in a change of underwear and some toiletries, and yes, I have done that).
5) Once You're Out There, Look Around! Because there is a lot to see. Pass the same trees every day, and you get to know who lives in them, how close they are to leafing out, and where those broken branches are healing from that wind storm two years back. And you'll see--and hear--the big V's of migrating geese overhead. The first crocuses and daffodils will cheer you up, and I swear, you can smell changes in the weather. Not to mention the new people you'll meet. But watch out for the cars, because they're not always watching out for you!
And that's pretty much it. Hey, maybe I'll see you on the sidewalk sometime...if they shoveled it, that is...
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