Ena and I have had the following three conversations recently. Thinking about these made me realize that we had adjusted to Winter in Wisconsin. (note: The current temperature is 7 degrees with a -6 degree F wind chill. It is lunch time)
(1) Saturday afternoon, me looking at thermometer. “Well. It is almost 20 degrees and it isn’t snowing too hard. I guess I’ll take the dog for a walk.”
(2) Sunday afternoon, Ena rousing me from what-ever I’m doing. “It is 22 degrees and Sunny. We should go to the dog park before it gets cold.”
(3) Ena and I this morning on hearing today’s weather forecast. Me, “2 degrees isn’t too bad if it is Sunny.” Ena, “and there isn’t a breeze. A breeze makes it cold but if there isn’t a breeze it is okay.”
Wonder what my friends from Hawaii think of such talk?
Things I have noticed when it is REALLY cold in Wisconsin:
— You get almost into work before the cold weather idle finally kicks off. Or, to put it another way. Your car’s idle is stuck on 2000 RPMs for the first 15 minutes of your drive in.
— You wait and wait for the temperature gauge needle to move off of the “C” so you can turn the heat on. When you turn the heat on, the needle goes right back down to “C” and it doesn’t move.
One final clarification – according to the last two items (the Things I have noticed when it is REALLY cold…) – today is not really cold.
Jim Phelps 
Brrr… Now mind you, Portland had it’s coldest day (at least at our house) this last weekend at 25*. But Ena’s right, if it’s sunny out and not windy, then it isn’t so cold. 🙂 STay warm……
And, why do your thoughts ring a rather large bell? 😉
One thing we note that influences how warm it feels, is humidity. During more humid days it feels colder.
On our last trip to Florida a few weeks back, people were wearing sweaters & jackets while complining about the cold weather. Winter has arrived in Florida? We just thought it were some nice northern spring or fall days and were appropriately wearing just shorts & t-shirts.
I love the car comments. It’s so true. Sometimes it takes forever for the temp gauge to go off C and then you still only get hot air when you reach your destination.
I was just in San Francisco on business with a bunch of people from Chicago and Madison. We were thrilled that it was 58 degrees outside when we went to dinner. The locals (at least some) had on down coats. We were in shirt sleeves basking in the warm weather.
– Jim