All I ask for is a little weather awareness...
January 29, 2010

I don't care what people do, only that they aren't ignorant about obvious things.

Like Michiganders who say they don't like the winter because it's cold.

Ugh!

Nobody likes the cold. Nobody can stand the cold. Cold kills. If you're cold you eventually die. That's why anyone who grows up around here, in reality (rather than in fakeyland) knows that if you move around when it's cold out that you're WARM.

I didn't used to hear Michiganders complain of the cold. I don't think that real Michiganders do. There are fake people out there! They must not be really here. But where are they? Is there any there there? TV isn't real! Car-seats and desks aren't real places! A parking lot isn't terrain.

It might have to do with transience. People aren't really from around here, or if they are many don't intend to stay. So they're here but not really.

So they whine.

Rather than live.

(I remember being shocked when I learned that the local weatherman actually lived in Florida! He commuted home on the wekends. No wonder he said in January "Ooh, we have a cold, miserable few days ahead of us with lows around 20. And a treacherous snowfall of 3" expected. But don't worry nice weather is on the way, with 50degF by the weekend!")

If you do XC skiing then you are warm, while wearing light clothing, when it's cold out. That's how Michigan rolls.

If you do ice-fishing, then you bundle up...and stay warm, not too cold.

In Florida where it's hot you wear less or stay in the shade...then you're warm, not too hot. It's all the same.

Someone recently told me that I should live in Norway coz that's where families go out skiing together and with their friends. They don't need structure. They just go exploring all day. Families by the thousands.

The crazy thing is that Lower Michigan has just as good skiing and terrain as Norway does.

Then I see a local hipster tabloid with the front cover headline "Get out there!" Inside there's a story saying to get outside in the winter, featuring a local champion triathlete young lady. There's a picture of a commuter bike cut into the story, too. There's a big pic of the gal all bundled up in thick heavy clothes with her thick heavy downhill skis leaning against her. ...There isn't good downhill skiing within 200 miles of here. But there are a dozen WORLDCLASS places to XC ski within a half hour. Downhill skiing at a local trash-mound costs $30. I'm sure it's fun, but can kids really do it that often? XC is free everywhere around here.

Then there's the hip university students who say they want to try ski skating, or that they're into XC -- the skating kind. Coz it's the fast kind. Yeah, a whole 10% faster on the World Cup level. But it has that "fast" buzz. Too bad there's only one place to do it around town here, on the far edge of town. With a pair of nowax touring skis you're probably no more than 5 minutes away from dandy skiing anywhere in this county.

I don't care what folks do -- they should just be aware of the real picture.