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Cold
By Scott Harrup | January 8, 2010
The bottom’s dropped out here in Springfield. Overnight temperatures are dipping below zero, with significant wind chills. Schools have been closed for two days because of the frigid conditions. The snow is sparse, but I felt like my face went glacial as I shoveled the thin layer off my driveway.
It’s all relative. I was filling up the car yesterday at a local convenience store and commented on the cold to the manager. It was 4 degrees. He laughed.
“My wife’s family in Nebraska was dealing with 60-below wind chills before Christmas,” he said. “People around here don’t know what cold is.”
Comparing personal sagas of arctic adventure can be akin to swapping fishing stories about the “one that got away.” There’s an element of one-upmanship as competing snow depths and wind speeds and thermometer readings are swapped from memory. A lot of folks around here still talk about the ice storm of 2007, with each person trying to convince the other that their power was out longer and their survival tactics were more drastic.
Ironically, those January temperatures were practically balmy by comparison, hovering in a dangerous zone where rain could fall with impunity and slowly freeze until the weight of the ice snapped mature oaks like twigs. People began to run out of firewood. You couldn’t buy a candle at Wal-Mart to save your life. Pets began to disappear … (All right, I’m starting to fall into that winter one-upmanship mode again.)
When it gets this cold, I try to imagine what it will be like in just four short months or so when we get our first heat wave. I’ll be cracking the car windows again to dissipate the trapped sunlight. I’ll be walking around in shirt sleeves. I’ll be seeing how high I can nudge the thermostat at home without the family rebelling. (Right now they’re begrudgingly layered in sweatshirts so we don’t have to take out another mortgage with the next utility bill.)
Which all reminds me of one of life’s realities. Our circumstances are as transient as the weather. If your problems seem to be a blizzard, take heart. A warmer season is around the corner. In the mean time, why not entrust the Weatherman with your cares? God shifts entire cold fronts with ease; He is able to direct your steps.
“The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him” (Nahum 1:7, NIV).
Topics: Bizarre, Family Life, Bible |
