Monday, October 17, 2022

Monday, 10/17

Just how soon is too soon to break out the hats & mittens?

I'm not asking for myself; after all, as long as it's above freezing it's shorts weather for me. But it's been wet & cold here for, like, forever (or since, you know, last week). And yesterday afternoon I started seeing people walking down the street dressed up in winter gear—in heavy jackets, in hats, and in a couple of cases, mittens.

On October 16th.

I won't get into whining about the weather again. I guess I do that enough, and I'm sure that you don't need to hear it from me again. But it's still mid October. Last year around this time, we had an 80-degree weekend, and wearing hats & mittens were among the furthest things from our minds. But because we were denied an Autumn this year (seriously—aside from it being 76 a week ago it's rarely been above the mid 50s for the past month or so, and now it's snowing away from Lake Superior) it's something we have to consider.

I don't in any way blame the people I saw wearing mittens & hats yesterday. For October (heck for most times of the year, save January & February) it was bone-numbingly cold. And when you add in the hypothermic rain, a rain that draws heat from your body, it was even worse. For many people, wearing hats & mittens was the only was they COULD go outside. But for me, at least, that didn't mitigate the shock of seeing people wear them.

On October 16th.

Because I'm a masochist, I checked the National Weather Service's forecast for Marquette for the next week. Because I'm not a sadist I won't reprint it here. Let's just suffice it to say that I won't be surprised if I see more and more people don the apparel of winter at least for the next few days of October 2022. So if you haven't rummaged through your closet to find your hats & mittens, or if you haven't made it to your favorite stores to pick up new ones, you might want to think about doing it soon. No one will blame you.

Even if today is just October 17th.

(jim@wmqt.com)

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