Hey, Midwest friends!

[Heartstrings]

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Also:

We can't go anywhere.
We can't do anything.
We can't remember what green looks like.
We can't remember what's under the snow.
We are hungry for fresh salads.
The ice cubes in our freezers are stale.
Our house plants are spindly.
Our pets are angry.
Our pianos have gone out of tune.
If we were bears we'd be sleeping.
We wish we were bears.

[Hortensis]

18. :) Very poignant, but

having trouble understanding "The ice cubes in our freezers are stale" down here in 80+-temp-land. How do you make your margaritas?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

20. The ice cubes get stale because the last thing we want is cold drinks.

They sit unused in the freezer until they start tasting weird and you have to throw them out. We want coffee, cocoa, hot toddies, anything warm. The margaritas can wait.

[Hortensis]

21. :)

[MineralMan]

28. Not in my house they don't. I insist on my gin and tonic, even

in the winter.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

34. Heathen. You can't drink G&T before Memorial Day or after Labor Day.

It just isn't done.

[MineralMan]

36. I can and do. I care not for such rules.

[Poiuyt]

33. It's so cold in my house that I leave the freezer door open in order to warm up

Wisconsin here. This is one of the harshest winters that I remember.

[msongs]

2. no wonder prez candidates in iowa are getting so much attention lol nt

[CaptainTruth]

3. We had a high of 88 here today in Florida. 74 tomorrow.

Winter is one of the main reasons I left the midwest as soon as I could. Freezing, dreary, practically no sun for 3 months ... Blah!

[GeoWilliam750]

31. "We had a high of 88 here today in Florida. 74 tomorrow."

...... I think the rest of us will build a big, beautiful wall on the northern Florida border this summer and unplug Florida's air conditioners ....

[Laffy Kat]

4. You are in my thoughts.

It will end. Spring will sprout. There will be life again.

[Cracklin Charlie]

5. My midwestern snow melted under a cold rain this weekend.

There’s not a spot in this county that isn’t muddy.

Ugh. I’m over it.

[UniteFightBack]

6. 24 days or so until Spring so hang in! nt

[Mr. Quackers]

7. speak for yourself

Last edited Mon Feb 25, 2019, 01:36 PM - Edit history (1)

there's winter in the north.

It doesn't last forever, makes no sense to complain.

If people don't like it, there are plenty of sunbelt red state hellholes one can go to where they don't have winter.

[handmade34]

30. I speak for all good

northerners... complaining is what we do (don't dare take that away from us)… our misery is what binds us together and if you don't like it, just don't pay attention


this is my front door this afternoon and I reserve every right to complain about it!

[GeoWilliam750]

32. Nice photo of the tree!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

35. Complaining is part of our winter experience.

When summer comes we'll complain about the mosquitoes.

[Pathwalker]

38. Wow! That's a cold response. Almost as cold as this never ending

winter. Besides, complaining keeps our lips from freezing together.

[TlalocW]

8. When I lived in Tulsa

One year, I got an extra job managing a video game arcade on the weekends for extra Christmas money. Tulsa rarely got snow that was worth writing home about - I grew up in Kansas in a small farming community where as a teen I drove on country roads that were sheets of ice on threadbare tires. But one year, Tulsa got hit and got hit hard. I still went into work because, snow, no biggy, expecting to have a slow day. I had never seen the place so busy. It was like people felt trapped and had to get out of the house when they should have gone to the stores, gotten some extra foods, some movies, etc. and stayed home. It was weird.

TlalocW

[Greybnk48]

9. It's true! I'm 70, in WI, and took a really bad fall yesterday on ice.

I was flat on my side on the patio before I knew what happened! I went out to the garage in shirt sleeves and pj bottoms and my Crocs (it was 30, which we consider warm) and wham! Before I got up I looked and had missed hitting my head on the deck step down to the cement patio by about 2", but unfortunately I landed on the cement. I checked my collarbone, humorous and hip and was really relieved. I also was the only one up, and could have been lying there for a while if luck had not been with me.

Here's some lesson learned advice:

1. Don't wear Crocs on ice!
2. Don't go out without a phone, and alert necklace, or a phone in your pocket to call for help if need be.
3. Take your barky dog with you, unlike stupid me.
4. Or just wait to do a simple chore outside until someone else is up too (if others are there).

I'm pretty healthy so I'm fine, just sore. I'm feeling very grateful to my Irish grandparents and relatives and my great-grandmother from the Netherlands who endowed me with dinosaur bones that are solid as rocks! I could be looking at hip surgery or something similar! This fall really scared me given what could have happened.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

10. At 70 you are quite lucky you didn't break something!

I'm the same age, and I took a nasty fall in a parking lot about a month ago, and the people who looked at the security footage clearly were astonished I hadn't broken anything. Sometimes the Old People Gods look after us.

[Greybnk48]

11. I'm glad you were lucky too!

I was holding a stack of empty cardboard boxes with both hands that I was taking to the garage so they wouldn't get snowed on, so I did nothing to break my fall. I think that may have saved me from a colles fracture of my wrist/arm! I'm sore as hell today (2 days later), but that's it. No bruising either. I almost never bruise. Pure dumb luck.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

19. I was carrying a box that meant I didn't see the speed bump that I tripped over.

Luckily the box cushioned my fall somewhat, or I'd have gone straight down on my face, which would have been a lot worse.

[Heartstrings]

13. Sore, but ok....

We’ll take that outcome!

I’m 67 and try to take necessary precautions but there are always those precarious situations.

Feel better!

[Greybnk48]

22. Thanks!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

14. Buy ice cleats! They're not expensive but would be worth every penny if they were!

It's so slippery under the ice now that I won't go outside without my ice cleats.

[Greybnk48]

24. My friend has a pair. Good idea!

[FakeNoose]

26. Also, keep rock salt right by your door

I can reach my salt bag without stepping outside. It's been a lifesaver (or at least a broken-bone saver) many times!

[sarcasmo]

12. 60 mph winds here in Wisconsin.

[Greybnk48]

23. We had a 131 car pileup on I-41 yesterday in Neenah!

Ground blizzard/white out the culprit! One fatality and many, many people hurt.

[Demsrule86]

15. Terrible winds here in Cleveland ...lines down, trees down...we are lucky.

our lights stayed on.

[jcgoldie]

16. I know this winter is wearing me out

Here in Illinois I don't have it as bad as some of you tough folks from Minnesota and Wisconsin, but it started so damn early in November and looking ahead at the ten day forecast through the first week of March there is no end in sight with nighttime temps in the mid-teens all the way out. I am just hoping we turn the corner soon after and the purple deadnettle and henbit then dandelions will popout for my poor hungry bees.

[Talitha]

17. We got 14.5" of snow from the weekend storm.

And we already had a 30" snowpack - yeah, I'm ready for Spring.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

25. It is windy. And cold.

But I am cleaning the golf clubs today, and planning to charge the motorcycle battery tomorrow.

The groundhog did not see his shadow.

[MineralMan]

27. Nah...we're fine.

It snowed here in the Twin Cities of MN. We set an all-time record for the amount of snow in any February. It has snowed plenty.

And, ever time it snows, we go out of our houses, shovel it or use a snowblower to clear it off our driveways and sidewalks. Our cities come by with snowplows and clear the streets, roads and highways. Then, we go about our normal activities.

It's a nuisance, but that's all, really. Even in places where they had a terrible blizzard, with even more snow and high winds, after a couple of days, everyone will be back doing whatever it is they do.

I mean, it's not a flood or a tornado, or anything like that. It's just snow. If it's in our way, we move it out of the way and pile it up. Then, we brush or sweep our cars off and get on with our lives.

Snow is not a disaster. It's just snow. In a couple of months, it'll all be water again.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

37. Not everybody is fine. The elderly, the homeless and the disabled really have a tough time

when there's this much cold and snow. People fall on the ice; falls can result in severe injuries (I know of a person who ended up with a compound wrist fracture - the bone coming through the skin - from falling on the ice). A broken hip can be eventually fatal for an elderly person. There have been hundreds of car accidents, including fatalities. Homeless people or those caught in blizzards outside a city can die of hypothermia, or of CO poisoning when they try to keep warm in their cars and the exhaust is clogged by snow. It's not bad if you can stay inside, if you don't have to travel, if you have plenty of food, if your heat and electricity work, and if you don't get sick and need help. Then it's just a nuisance and a bore and most of us are just fine staying inside and whining and/or drinking. But this kind of weather can be really dangerous, especially for the most vulnerable.

[MineralMan]

29. Don't you worry about us folks up North!