Eighteen degrees outside, with the sun shining, at 10:30am. And yes, I am in the South. I've tried hard not to laugh the last few days as people everywhere are taking precautions (which is wise) and over-reacting a bit (which is crazy) to the thermometer. About 15 years ago I lived in an area where the temp never reached above freezing from October-April. We walked a mile to the market at least twice a week to buy food, we walked to the post office, and we rejoiced that unlike the Chinese graduate students, our classes were held in our building so we didn't have to walk half a mile to our classroom across campus. (And I learned that when the temp hits 0, your nose hairs freeze...a fun but disgusting fact.) And now I watch and listen to people cancel doctor's appointments and refuse to leave their adequately heated houses because of the cold weather...when we have heated cars and heated everything else. Granted, we southerners do not have clothes appropriate for such weather because a)it's not sold here and b)no one in their right mind would spend a fortune on clothes that can be worn once every 5-10 years. But when I saw posts on Facebook last night from HOMESCHOOLERS that they were going to have a cold weather day, I couldn't help but wonder if my fellow Americans have not lost their minds.
And everyone is hyping about "taking care of the poor animals". I can't help but wonder, for every post a friend has posted about caring for animals, how many of them have actually called an elderly person or a neighbor to check on them, to make sure they have adequate heat and have taken precautions to ensure their pipes don't freeze?
And lest you think all my friends are wimps, I had two friends laughing this morning about how crazy they looked all bundled up while walking their dog...while it's 10 degrees outside. So I guess all my friends fall into two categories: wimps or crazy. And I can hear my grandmother's voice saying "Birds of a feather flock together!" :)
And with that, I'm heading out to make sure my birds still can get to their water and have plenty of food.
And everyone is hyping about "taking care of the poor animals". I can't help but wonder, for every post a friend has posted about caring for animals, how many of them have actually called an elderly person or a neighbor to check on them, to make sure they have adequate heat and have taken precautions to ensure their pipes don't freeze?
And lest you think all my friends are wimps, I had two friends laughing this morning about how crazy they looked all bundled up while walking their dog...while it's 10 degrees outside. So I guess all my friends fall into two categories: wimps or crazy. And I can hear my grandmother's voice saying "Birds of a feather flock together!" :)
And with that, I'm heading out to make sure my birds still can get to their water and have plenty of food.
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