A Cold One!
By Jim Hunt for the News and Journal
The pleasant weather we enjoyed until the end of last year is certainly missed as we dive into a
bitter cold spell to kick off the new year. I had almost convinced myself it was time to pack my
winter coats back in the basement and start prepping my lawnmower for spring—until I woke up
to a blanket of snow and frozen car windows. That morning, I found myself sliding my coffee
cup in between the car door just to get it open.
I’ve never been a big fan of cold weather, and my opinion hasn’t warmed with age. I have vivid,
not-so-fond memories of collecting on my paper route, clutching icy coins with fingers that felt
like frostbite was imminent.
Cold weather isn’t just inconvenient—it’s destructive. Frozen water pipes rank high on the list of
winter nuisances. I can still recall those frigid mornings of my youth when I’d rush downstairs
for breakfast only to hear the dreaded news: the pipes were frozen. If luck was on your side, a
few minutes with a hair dryer under the kitchen sink would coax the water back to life. If not,
you’d be greeted by a spray of water and the sound of my dad muttering choice words as he
worked his magic with copper fittings and a propane torch.
Cars were no less vulnerable to the cold. Many mornings, I’d stick the key in the lock only to
find it frozen solid. Since I didn’t smoke, I rarely had a lighter handy to heat the key, so I’d have
to enlist help. Once inside the car, turning the key often meant praying you didn’t hear the
dreaded click of a dead battery. That would send me rummaging through the trunk for jumper
cables and flagging down a passing motorist for help. And even when the car started, the
defroster seemed to take an eternity to clear a tiny patch of windshield. I vividly remember my
dad seeing me head out one morning with only a small peephole scraped into the icy glass. He
punished my laziness by making me walk for two weeks. Lesson learned.
Recently, I saw an ad online for a battery-powered jacket that uses nanotechnology to keep you
warm, and I wondered how such marvels would have changed my youth. Back then, we relied on
less sophisticated solutions, like a chrome handwarmer in a felt bag that stayed warm for about
five minutes—not exactly worth the trouble. One winter, my mother bought me a pair of black
rubber galoshes with enough metal buckles to secure a bank vault. They were decidedly
unflattering and didn’t do much to help my teenage popularity. I couldn’t help but wonder if my
parents were playing a cruel joke on me.
Despite it all, I survived the cold winters of my youth, and I’m confident I’ll get through this one
too. I marvel at those brave souls who step out in subzero temperatures wearing nothing but
shorts and a t-shirt. Perhaps they hold the secret to conquering the cold, or maybe they’re just
built differently. Either way, they make me appreciate the warmth of a hot cup of coffee and a
cozy coat even more.