Thursday, December 8, 2011

Chilling Out

Have I complained about the weather, lately?

We're having deep-January temps this week (well, not all week, just a few of the days), and I'm already kind of tired of it. I've found out that one of the pairs of gloves I have is just not great for a zero-degree windchill. A fact I figured out while walking the dog the other morning. Even with the gloves on I came back in with red hands. (Time to get out the lotion...)

Apparently, though, we're supposed to be back up to around freezing on Saturday and Sunday. Which to some of you probably still sounds frigid, but for us in this part of the country sounds downright balmy.

And that difference leads me to something I was noticing today on my drive home: The way people dress for the weather.

As I was at a stoplight, I watched two women walk past me. One was bundled up in a coat and scarf and, frankly, looked like she could have survived Antarctica. The other was in a blazer (undone), and looked like she was out for a springtime stroll.

Yesterday, when it was something like 20 degrees out, I saw someone in a hooded sweatshirt and basketball shorts walking out of a Target store, while the person he was with looked like an Eskimo.

Why is it that people can dress so differently for the same weather?

Granted, when I was out this morning with the pup, it was about 23 degrees (no measurable wind), and I didn't have on a hat or gloves. If you didn't know the temperature and saw me out walking you might have thought it was in the 40s or so. For me, that's simply seasonal adaptation. Like when there's a 50-degree day in late January, so I leave my coat inside when I go for a walk, although a 50-degree day in July would have me running for a sweater.

>sigh< It's not even mid-December and I'm already thinking about July weather. This could be a *very* long winter.

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