That time of the year

I did not grow up with snow. However, I went to an international school and experienced enough multicultural zietgiest growing up that the concept of it was not so foreign. People I knew had lived with snow and there were movies and TV that showed both its magic and its mundane.  When I first saw snow at 10 and first lived with it at 17, the whimsy felt muted and practical. As a quick aside, I had few touchstones for hail and freaked out when a sudden storm cracked open while I walked to the Ithaca College library to study for spring final freshmen year. Ice balls falling from the sky?! WHAT?!

While not a pro at snow, I am at peace with it. It happens. From about October-ish to April-ish you could get snow here in the Northeast. That all being said, it appears the rest of the world has lot concept of snow and of winter. Maybe it is the same thing that happens with vaccines. The sheer success of our ability to deal with it has made us forget just indeed how horrible the effects of it can be. One of my favorite quotes from Watership Down is "“Many human beings say that they enjoy the winter, but what they really enjoy is feeling proof against it." I enjoy everything that allows we to proof against winter and find the complaining about it being cold feels hollow. Tell me something new.

However, even with all this, I can now say I am over winter. Not because it is cold (See the above) but because of everyone freaking out because of the cold. The news recently were all about polar vortices and people throwing pots of hot water in the air. Yes, it is particularly cold out, but damnit, it's January. Why is this a big deal? Why does this dominate the news? It goes far beyond practical when CNN opens prime time shows with "Gee, it is particularly cold out." If this was happening in say October then I would say it is news, but IT IS JANUARY! Truly obnoxious people will claim that the fact that it is cold in January means climate change is all poppy cock. Indeed, it is like vaccines with the strawman argument that if this is happening/not happening to me then the entire phenomenon must be false. I've actually unlisted people from my Facebook feed over this lunacy, which is something I never thought I would care enough to do, but IT IS JANUARY!