Baby, It's Cold Outside!

It's frigid outside today.

Here in Michigan, people are always watching the weather. In the winter we pay especially close attention to the two temperatures in the forecast. No, not the high and low. The other two: the temperature and the temperature with the wind-chill factored in. For those of you who are reading this and reaching for the sunscreen, I'll fill you in. During the winter months, when so much of the north and eastern U.S.'s landscape more closely resembles an expedition to Antarctica than amber waves of grain, we take wind-chill seriously. The arctic winds blow down across Canada and sweep over us like a chilly breath coming from the lungs of Old Man Winter himself. Wind-chill is literally the temperature that your skin thinks it is because of the wind.

Today's temperature is -1 degree Fahrenheit at 8 AM. Don't feel bad for us, though. We make it all the way up to 14 degrees by noon. Of course, that is all sans the wind. The wind-chill makes it feel like it is actually -10 to -20.

That's cold enough to close schools. You can't have children waiting at bus stops when it is this cold. Recess, well, that's not even an option for much of the winter. The real bummer for faculty is that they usually have to report when a school is closed due to the cold.

Schools here often close because of weather-related issues: excessive snow, any ice or like today, bitter cold. Then, occasionally, a school will close because that nasty wind has knocked-out power or caused a pipe to freeze and burst.

In this climate, we are used to school closings. All through my high-school years, my peers were all too well aware of how many snow days our district was allotted before we had to start making up days at the end of the year. This is what one becomes accustomed to when living in the winter wonderland.

I had a friend that lived in Texas. He said that school was closed once because the building was swarmed and covered in giant winged grasshoppers.

I guess that I should count my blessings and grab one more hat.