Bitter Cold Bites the Midwest

It's 5:42 pm with a temperature of -6 degrees. The expected low for tonight is -18 or worse. Add even a slight wind speed and we will plunge down to -50, -60 or -70, depending on how hard the wind blows. A -14 degree temp is bad enough, but when the wind chill is added to that, it's colder than that pet rock staring at you. It's the kind of cold that claws at your face and your toes curl up in protest with a desire to visit Florida with or without you.

The car engine groans and moans at your request to start and you hold your breath and pray it will. This is not a good time to have to walk to work. The entire car makes noises only audible in below zero temperatures. The heater struggles to provide enough heat to just thaw out your feet and hands.

Boots, that aren't nearly as warm as the manufacturer promised, crunch through snow that was fluffy and soft when it first covered sidewalks and roads. The arctic blast from the north rams a quick freeze over the snow leaving a crust on top that can cut like broken glass should you happen to fall and break the top layer of frozen snow.

The cruel, howling wind whips you to the bone with a cold that invades any good pair of jeans as if you had nothing on. Any smartly dressed adventurer will soon be shivering no matter how many layers you have on. The wind will punch you in the face with a sharp, icy blast of cold that takes your breath away and brings tears to your eyes.

Birds huddle together on telephone wires and in the sparse shelter of leafless trees and bushes. Not much protection from nature's wrath, but it's all they have.

Dogs, excited to race outside for a romp are soon hobbling over the ragged frozen snow in search of a patch of ground with no snow where they can warm their feet. There is none. Bitter cold nip at their frozen paws and excitement quickly ends as they race back inside and claim your warm blanket you left on the couch.

It's January in Iowa. This is expected. Snow and cold, sometimes more than we want or like, but necessary for the good of the land. We know these frigid days are numbered and as they head to the east, we hope that was our only blast from the north for the winter. If subzero temps return, that's the nature of the beast. After all, life goes on.

I have a cousin who was born and raised in California. Now this happened a long time ago when he was a young man (in his early twenties). He had never seen snow and decided to spend a winter in Iowa. It was a normal winter, temperatures around 30 degrees and snow on the ground by Thanksgiving. On turkey day, he had seen all the snow he cared to see. The day after Thanksgiving, he bought a plane ticket and went back to California. He never returned in the winter and never again expressed a desire to see snow. He missed the really cold days. If he had stayed a little longer, I suppose that plane ticket would not have been to California, but farther south, perhaps to the equator.

Subzero temps are dangerous and create daily challenges. Precautions when having to go outside are a must by covering every inch of skin possible. Frostbite and hypothermia are no joke. Even the hardest of Iowans prefer to stay inside when the north wind howls in January, but, as I said before, life goes on.

As with most things in life, the bitter cold will move on in good time and these days will be a memory. Our version of a January heat wave will sweep across the land and bring relief from a wind that bites and slashes everything in sight. The mercury will rise into the teens, twenties or low thirties. Fifteen is warm after below zero temps. It doesn't much matter around here and anything is warmer than 6 below zero at 5:42 pm.