Brrr it's Cold

Other parts of the country get snow days, but in Minnesota, school kids get "cold days," at least according to legend.  I don't know how often schools have actually closed because of the cold, because schools actually seldom close around here due to any kind of weather, but native Minnesotans claim it's happened.   

So I feel a little more Minnesotan today - I've finally witnessed temperatures so low schools closed.  Last Friday the governor issued a rare order ahead of the latest cold front.  With especially brutal temperatures predicted to hit today, he proactively shut down all K-12 public schools statewide.  Private schools, daycare centers, colleges and even some businesses quickly followed suit.  With a high of -14, (with wind chills in the negative 40s), well that is just a whole new level of cold.  You can't have kids waiting at bus stops and risking frostbite. 

Despite the governor's order to shut down schools, the state, my employer, remained open today.  And with news outlets reporting extensively on the school closures, Chris's work proactively e-mailed its employees reminding them that despite the school closings and harsh temperatures, it is business as usual for the company.  If Chris and I had to work, luckily, our children's daycare remained open.  Since it's a company-sponsored center, it's officially policy is that if the office remains open, so does the center.

With all the hype about the weather, I was really curious what -45 feels like.  While hypothermia and frostbite are real dangers when exposed to the elements for too long, it's not like you get frostbite the instant you step outside.  I made sure skin was covered as I prepared myself and the kids to make the dash to the car, but I wasn't wearing any more than I usually wear on a winter morning.  I didn't even put a hat on Oliver since the hood of his winter coat fits snugly around his head. 

The real inconvenience is that none of my car doors would open this morning, except for the trunk.  So I climbed in through the back and made my way to the driver's seat where with anticipation, I turned the key.  Since it's a newer car, I mostly had faith it was going to start.  The engine sputtered, but the car started.  (For those wondering, it was -21F/-43 windchill.) 

Oh, and I dropped a gallon of milk on our front stoop when I was bringing in groceries yesterday and the plastic carton split and gushed milk, which took all of 30 seconds to freeze.  Since salt doesn't work at these temperatures, I packed snow on top of the spilled milk so we wouldn't have to look at (or slip on) what looked like frozen vomit. 

Honestly, the extra cold weather wasn't that bad, at least for someone with a warm house, proper winter attire, a reliable car and no need to spend extended time outside. While this weather is unusually cold, Minnesota winters are known for cold.  Whether it's 14 degrees or -14, at the end of the day, the actual number doesn't matter so much.  It's logistically challenging to spend much extended time outdoors with little kids in the winter anyway, and we're used to making do with indoor activities.  At least once a winter we get a days-long stretch of temperatures that don't rise above 0, so extreme weather conditions aren't unusual.  Sure, those are the days that we can't do any playing outside because of that pesky threat called frostbite, but we make do. Life goes on, just with chapped lips and skin cracked at the fingertips.