Our first really cold weather of the year has come, along with the moans and groans of the masses. At church on Sunday, I heard several folks say they were ready for the cold weather to end. I’m certainly no saint and I complain more than I should, but I could only think we haven’t really had any cold weather this year. And it’s January. Surely we can put up with a few moments of cold weather. Bundle up. Grin and bear it.

I had a flashback to my college days. I started college at the university mid-year after finishing up my junior college coursework. When I say mid-year, I mean January. I started school in the middle of winter.

I lived in a nasty little apartment on Sixth Street, a straight shot from the campus — or so it seemed. It was actually quite a distance from campus. The first few days, I drove to class and found parking to be such a hassle. Why not walk, I thought.  So, I bundled up as best I could and headed out.

Now, I went to school way up north and I didn’t know how much colder things could be up there. I headed off to campus.  Even though it was cold, I thought it was a pretty nice walk. I felt the wind on my back and it made me walk faster. It was a brisk walk. An invigorating walk, if you will. Needless to say, I was wide awake for chemistry lab that day.

After spending the entire day on campus, ducking into the over-priced student center for lunch and only experiencing the cold snaps for brief periods, it was time to head back to my apartment.

By that time in the afternoon, the weather had grown colder, the wind had picked up, and it had even started snowing.  I pictured myself zipping back home and being invigorated once more, ready for an evening of study, and probably ramen noodles.

What followed was one of the coldest experiences of my life. The wind, the snow, the icy sidewalk. The snow was a wet snow, soaking me to the bone before I finally reached my apartment. The whole ordeal made me appreciate my nasty little apartment. I was never so glad to get indoors.

Now, had my ancestors or any of the pioneers watched me on my trek, they would have probably laughed at me. Why wasn’t I dressed better for the weather? What was I complaining about? Walking a few blocks in the cold?

Coming home to an electric heater, hot water, a microwave? My flair for the dramatic had me trudging through snow drifts with icicles on my eyebrows. But heck, it was only a few minutes in the cold, after all.

It makes me think what big pansies we can be sometimes when it comes to being uncomfortable. We aren’t willing to put up with much at all. We don’t like to be patient. We don’t want to be hot, cold, hungry, etc. Being uncomfortable can’t last too long. If it does, we throw in the towel.

Our house needs to be insulated again. Being an older home, it could benefit from a bit of bundling up. We need to fix some of the drafty areas. Indeed, you can walk or sit in parts of our house and feel a little breeze here and there.
So, for a time, I sit and fuss in my brain about it. Why can’t I afford to completely redo my house, top to bottom, so that every little nook and cranny is warm and snug? Why do I have to sit on my couch on a cold day and feel a draft from time to time? Whine, whine, whine.

Activity is good for me. I can get up and go to the kitchen.  I can do the dishes, help with dinner, fold laundry or a number of other activities that always seem to be ready to do. If I want, I can go to one of several closets in my house and grab something to cover up with. I can go to my dresser and choose from a variety of comfortable clothing to put on, designed to warm up the person wearing them.

None of us have too much to whine about when it comes to this cold weather. Besides, it never lasts very long in our neck of the woods, does it?