There’s about eight inches of snow on the ground. The wind is howling. The temperature with the wind chill is 18°F. My targets are frozen together and my bow is colder than ice. All in all pretty miserable.
I know some folks love the cold. Otherwise states like Montana and North Dakota would have populations less than a city like Atlanta. Oh wait; Montana and North Dakota do have populations less than Atlanta. Still between those two states there’s nearly two million people living in the cold. (That’s still less than the population of Georgia’s Capitol.)
To be honest, I have lived in cold places. I’ve lived in Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Cleveland. I’ve also had my primary office in Boston and Mölnlycke (Sweden) where I spent an abundance of time. Right now it is warmer in Mölnlycke than here in New Hope, North Carolina. (34°F in Mölnlycke and 27°F without the wind chill that’s making it feel like 18°F.) Twice I’ve taken trips north of the Artic Circle. From those experiences I know I am not one to love the cold.
Fortunately, as we migrate future south the winters become milder and shorter. Yes, it is cold here at the moment; next week we’re expecting highs back into the lower 60s and upper 50s.
Despite the current conditions I did go outside. I didn’t shoot or run. I was going to shoot but the stack of three frozen together blocks took the steam out of that idea. Running on ice and snow is dumb. There was no running today. River ran she loves the snow. Then, she is built for cold. She ran and I walked.
Aside from a few escapes outdoors, I spent the day dealing with changes addresses for our upcoming move to Georgia, where it will be warmer still. My hometown of Savannah, Georgia got a little snow from this storm that hit many of us. My friends and family there are pretty excited by it. Then, it will be 65°F there with the next 72 hours. Heck, I expect the snow that arrived there a few hours ago is already gone.
Nope, having grown up in the deep South and not owning an overcoat until moving to Baltimore when I was 35 years old, I have no issue missing the cold and snow. (I do own several now)