Why We Do It

Why do we do it? Minnesotans are either a) a hearty bunch of happy-go-luckies or b) dumb. I'm still deciding. Even though I've lived in Minneapolis for the last seven years, it's occurred to me that I may never "adjust" to the cold snaps that happen each year.

Today it's above 0 degrees Fahrenheit. It's +1 outside and snowing. There were more than 100 accidents caused by slick roadways and idiot drivers trying to get to work on time this morning. And, what's more, this is an annual thing. We expect it. We nod in anticipation of the cold. A cold so frigid that our lips crack and bleed. Our cuticles peel back. Our skin is so pasty white due to lack of sun and dryness that we look like ghosts (I just noticed how ghostly Don Shelby, handsome anchor at local CBS affiliate WCCO really looks last night on the 10 p.m. news).

Yesterday, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported this fun story...

In the Twin Cities, the temperature rose above zero just before 3 p.m., ending a stretch of 63 hours at zero or below, all but two of them below zero. The low during that point was 16 below Monday morning. The mercury is expected to rise to 8 above today, with highs in the low teens through Friday.

The recent cold snap was not even close to historic, and not even top 10 caliber. It was the longest stretch of zero-or-below readings since an 82-hour siege from Jan. 28 into Jan. 31, 2004, according to assistant Minnesota state climatologist Pete Boulay. The record of 186 hours was set Dec. 31, 1911, into Jan. 8, 1912.

And that, my friends, is why we love Minnesota. Where else in the world can a person live where winters and summers are so extreme? In six months, it will be 90 degrees and 90 percent humidity. We will sweat just walking from the couch to the fridge. We will pitch our tents in state parks and fight a blur of mosquitoes because we're a hearty bunch of happy-go-luckies who won't let a little harsh weather stop us from living!

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