It's Cold Outside!

Chicago is experiencing something of a cold snap. It's not horrible. It's not as bad as the East Coast had it recently. But it's cold outside. The temperature right now is 10, wind chill is 2 below. It's always the wind chill that gets you. It's been like this for a few days now.

I hadn't really noticed the cold until it got hot in the apartment. Ironically, we have to crack a couple of windows a little when it gets really cold because the radiators are really good. When it gets less cold and the radiators don't work as hard, we have to close the windows. Thus, if the windows are open it must be really cold outside. (?!)

The cold hit home yesterday morning when Dave and I ventured out to the café with work and newspapers and blank to-do lists ready to be filled (you can guess which were Dave's and which were mine). The passenger-side door on Dave's car would not open. After we each banged on it, I pulled, and Dave pushed, we gave up. I spent most of the day sitting in the back seat getting driven around and feeling important. Downsides to this included lack of leg room, inaccessibility of radio and temperature controls, and Dave's dislike at being addressed as "Driver."

I was thinking about the cold again this morning while I put on my biggest sweater and Dave was already outside warming up the car and trying to get the door unfrozen. Dave's car was parked right in front of the building. Both of our cars are often within steps of our front door. Therefore, it is only when I am taking the el or walking to a neighborhood shop that I have to dress for the weather. How lucky am I?

Even when I am driving somewhere I have my emergency back-up clothing and cold weather accessories (hat, gloves, another scarf, etc.), but I rarely have to actually put all these pieces on. This was not the case when I was young.

I realized this morning that my memories of colder winters are really distorted. Of course they were colder to me -- because I had to walk several blocks to and from school, or walk a couple of blocks to wait for a bus at 7 am and then get off it to wait for another one when I was in high school. I went to college in Des Moines! My first winter there we took our finals while the rest of the city was shut down because the wind chills were 70 below zero. Yes, seven zero.

For all of those years I had to bundle up every time I stepped outside. In those early years, Mom helped us all bundle up before heading off to grade school. She had us in assembly lines for hair: two braids, one braid, ponytail, or ponytail that was braided, and then winter clothing layering: uniform, leg warmers, Moon boots (check that your school shoes are in your backpack), scarf, hat, mittens, sibling-matching blue parka, hood, another scarf. Mom would finish us off with a children's multi-vitamin and chewable vitamin C stuck in between face-covering layers of scarves once we had become immobile and unable to resist. The "bundle up" scene from the movie A Christmas Story is not an exaggeration. It is the truth and torment of many a Midwestern kid.

I learned in college that looking cool does not matter – you dressed to stay warm, or, indeed, save your life and limbs. The cold weather gear that was avoided or quickly concealed in high school was embraced and adorned on the open plain of Iowa. Everyone wore whatever was necessary and did not worry about looking stupid. In fact, outrageous hats and mile-long scarves became something of a statement.

I bundled up when we last had snow here in Chicago to go out and take some pictures. I wore multiple layers and Dave's coat and headed out. I came back in after 20 minutes to change film, drop off my glasses (they're cold on my face and constantly fog up), and blow my nose. I ventured out for another 15 minutes and ended up ducking into a café to change film and blow my nose. I had no idea I had become so weak.

I am going back to Des Moines in a couple of weeks for a choir reunion. I am staying at a hotel near campus and will be able to walk to everything. In fact, I'll need to walk to everything since the most convenient parking will probably be at the hotel. It's been a long time since I was on campus in the February cold. I'm thinking I should start taking my vitamins now.