Winter weather

It builds character.

Keillor’s best reflection on winter is called “Good Enough,” and like all great truths of the universe, is pithy enough to be printed on a coffee mug, and so, of course, it is. This excerpt should be required reading for Fairfax County administrators, and maybe the bus drivers, too:

Growing up in a place that has winter, you learn to avoid self-pity. Winter is not a personal experience, everybody else is as cold as you, so you shouldn’t complain about it too much. You learn this as a kid, coming home crying from the cold, and Mother looks down and says, “It’s only a little frostbite. You’re okay.” And thus you learn to be okay.

I did not grow up in a place that has winter. Therefore, should it get cold again, you’ll hear me complaining about it. Of course, the fact that I don’t think 40 degree weather is cold is vaguely disquieting.