ChiBeria

 

What it feels like to many people

We are in a good old fashioned cold spell in Chicago.  We had a good old fashioned snowstorm two days ago, with temperatures in the 20s and 30s.  The forecast after the snow was for the cold spell we are currently experiencing.  At 6:30 pm, the temperature here is -7^o F.  The high today was a mere 2 ^o.  The low over night is predicted to be -7^o!  I will stay this cold for three more days when we reach a balmy 15 ^o.

My friend Ruth referred to our cold spell as ChiBeria.  Oddly, I have never heard that term.  It is a perfect description for our blowing snow and brutal cold.  It so Pasternakian.

I have certainly written about blizzards and cold spells like this over the years.

January 2005: Winter Survival

January 2009: It Began with an Air Bath

January 2014: Brutalmente Frio!

For the Love of a Good Winter Blast

The Vortex Cometh

A Walk in the Frigid Cold

A Walk in the Snow

Not only do I write about blizzards and cold spells, I also make videos about them.  I only make these videos for my five grandkids.  I make one almost everytime it snows.  Of the dozens Of the dozens of short videos I send them, the snow videos have to be the most common theme.

It is no secret that I love these blizzards and cold spells.  It is not really winter with a few blizzards and a week-long cold spell.  Without blizzards, cold spells, and a few of the accompanying snow days, we would have dreary grayish winters with temperatures in that nowhere zone of the 30s and 40s.  Of course, not everyone agrees with me.  On a FB book “ A good winter snow,” displaying some photos of our recent snowstorm, my friend Rich from Massachusetts commented, “That’s an oxymoron. ‘Good’ does not go with ‘Snow’.”  Another friend, Peter, noted, “New fallen snow. So beautiful.”  Clearly, I side with Peter.

Hard to photograph 2 ^o F

There is, however, a nonzero probability that we could end up living in Southern California at some point.  Everyone I know that has moved there from the Midwest loves the weather.  Very few lament about the loss of fall and the almost non-existent winters.  Very few ever talk about moving back and the weather is always listed as a primary reason.  I wonder, if I were to ever live there, if I would ever adopt that perspective?  I certainly understand the lure and have witnessed the complaints of California transplants from the Midwest who visit “home” during the winter.

I have written twice about walks in the cold and snow.  So. did I take a walk in the cold today?  I did not.  I did go outside, clearly to make a video, but I did not dress for it and it was really cold.  I needed another layer of fleece, better gloves, and a balaclava. 

Here are some quotes on Winter from Xavier University:

 

"What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness."
- John Steinbeck, "Travels with Charley: In Search of America"

"Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius."
- Pietro Aretino

"The color of springtime is in the flowers, the color of winter is in the imagination."
- Terri Guillemets

"One kind word can warm three winter months."
- A Japanese Proverb

"In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy."
- William Blake

 

"Spring, summer, and fall fill us with hope; winter alone reminds us of the human condition."
- Mignon McLaughlin