Frosty Morning

It is amazing to me to consider the places I have been, the people I have come to know, and the means they will employ to come to grips with their environment.

Last month, in South Africa I wondered aloud at how they could be wearing jumpers (sweaters) whilst we were running the air-conditioning in the bus as we drove along. I think it was Angie who pointed out that while it was hot to Europeans, it was comparatively cold to the South Africans. It was only in the high seventies but it would get much warmer as the spring progressed and turned into summer.

I won’t say that I have never thought of this, I grew up in Miami and used to make fun of them there for putting on a coat when the temperatures fell to seventy. Being of Minnesota parentage, I never was made to put on a sweater or a jacket until my parents got cold… so I usually only wore one when I was cold.

The reason for the musings this morning is that I woke-up thinking about the different ways that people deal with their environments. Back in the UK, where it is cold and miserable but not deadly without long exposure, they build pubs in ever village and burg. People gather for warmth and hospitality.

Here in Minnesota, they do all their socializing in the warmer weather, here they hunker-down in the winter. The cold and the ice are a deadly combination so they leave their homes when they can but know that there will be long stretches where leaving home is not a good idea.

You lay-by provisions, make sure you have enough coffee and cards and you entertain yourself (yourselves) until the dangerous temperatures and the ice subside. Ah! But it is lovely out! Deadly but beautiful, that’s the Minnesota winter. The trees are iced in frost and snow, the ground is covered in a fluffy white quilt.

And here is sit. Inside, warm, with a cup of coffee, my feet up and staring out at the bitterly cold woods around the house. There are geese walking out across the frozen lake. But in here it is so cozy!

Wherever you are this morning, I hope that you’re cozy and warm.

Don Bergquist - December 23, 2007 - Kensington, Minnesota, USA