Iowa In January

This morning I took advantage of the warm temperature to venture outside for my daily walk. By “warm” I mean 22° – but above 0°. The forecast for the rest of the week is a decline into the 10s for highs and 0s for low (-10° Thursday night), so I’ll be in the confines of our basement on the treadmill for my walks the rest of the week and probably into next. Of course, before going out this morning, I first had to shovel our walks, deck, and driveway of the 4” of snow we got yesterday, adding to my workout. This is Iowa in January. We out here on the northern Plains are used to the frigid temperatures, driving winds, drifting snow. And we enjoy more than anything complaining about it. Some will say they tolerate it. Some might even say they enjoy or relish it. But these people are delusional, suffering from something like the Stockholm syndrome, the psychological phenomenon where hostage victims emotionally bond with their captors, showing positive feelings, even affection, to them. The rest of us – the emotionally stable – do what we have to, hunker down, mumble curses, light a fire (even if we don’t have a fireplace), and wait for the warmth of Spring that the calendar promises.