As Winter Days Go, This Isn't So Bad...
In spite of the fact that it IS "Humpday", things are pretty calm in our little corner of the universe.
OK, so we're in the midst of a sub-zero weather front moving through the area. The good news is that it's (in the words of Don McLean) "caught the last train for the coast", and will be out of here by sunset.
But, it IS January.
And it IS winter.
And it IS weird to scrape off the screen door windows with a razor blade so I can see outside (as you have guessed by now, we don't HAVE the best fitting doors on the planet). It's an older house, and the front and back jambs are slightly out of square due to settling...hey, it happens to everyone. Sooner or later, the ravages of time will take a toll on ANY structure. That's when the "fun" begins...and the cash goes bye-bye.
But back to this cold weather thing...
Is it just ME, or did I not mind this as much when I was younger?
Seems I recall a time when Mom would bundle me up like Nanook of the North, with all the proprietary movement ability of the Michelin Man. Playing in the snow was always fun (just don't fall down...you'll never get back up), but I DO remember some frigid days waiting on the school bus. And if there was ONE THING you could depend upon, it was the fact that whatever you WORE TO SCHOOL was going to be there when you kitted up to LEAVE SCHOOL. Didn't matter how many layers you had to strip away, they were all there at the final bell.
Trouble is, we didn't bother to put them ALL back on (shoved into schoolbags), so that produced a stern look and the obligatory "riot act" being read to us by Mom, stating we'd all catch pneumonia and miss school (heaven forbid). And there must have been a ring of truth to all that, because I DID catch DOUBLE pneumonia, missed about HALF a school year in the process (and in the hospital), but (get this)...still managed to PASS THE GRADE without missing a lesson.

Want to know the secret? Come closer....closer still.
Mom brought EVERY SINGLE LESSON to me when I was in the hospital. And when I got out and was back home, the teachers brought the work to the house (or mom went to get it). In essence, it was PARENTS THAT GAVE A DAMN. Imagine that. Amazing how times change over the decades. Still, we managed to do what needed to be done.

There was one winter in the late 50s I recall so well, because it brought Philadelphia to a grinding halt. NOTHING was running as far as public transit. The only thing I remember seeing was road graders plowing and a fire engine once in a great while. The only way people were getting around was to WALK, and in hip-deep snow, that wasn't fun.
Dad took me to the grocery store on a SLED, so I could hold the bags as he pulled me along the streets. In many ways, it was much like the winters of 78-79. It was just a helluva lot of SNOW.
Then there are always the ICE STORMS. I actually dread these more than any snowfall, being someone who had to drive a whole lot. It only takes less than a 1/2 INCH of ice on everything to cause a lot more damage than a FOOT of snow. And try using a defroster when ice is building up on the wiper blades. It's times like that you curse auto designers and engineers for not providing a means to be able to see under those conditions.
If you have your druthers, always opt for a snow storm over an ice storm. At least you know where you stand with snow (about ankle deep?), whereas an ice storm is too damn unpredictable as far as other drivers' ability to navigate in it.
Nothing says "what an adventure" like doing a "360" on an off ramp to the interstate...at FIVE MILES AN HOUR (in an ice storm). It's kind of neat, though...you look out the windshield, and things are moving SIDEWAYS past you in a counterclockwise direction, while you rotate in a clockwise direction. Don't see that very often. The good news was that no one else was around at the time (thankfully), and I motored on after bumping the curb (no damage whatsoever).
Skill? Perhaps.
Luck? Definitely!
So when I look outside at the thermometer and those "frigid-digits" barely getting out of SINGLE NUMBERS, I can't help but think about how we depended on ourselves (and one another) to do what we had to do in winters past. No high-tech solution to old man winter in those days.
You just hunkered down, bundled up, turned your face away from the wind and pushed on. It wasn't a desire to do so...it was necessity.
And we seem to be missing that today.

Call "that" the last remnants of a pioneer spirit.
(stay warm...and happy scraping)