That was one thing about going down to the Catskills to visit The Relatives. Snow and serious cold are a feature there, everyone (especially the plows) is set up to deal with it, and houses have backup heating if the furnace fails.

I really worry about Georgia and all those places where the houses are often without insulation, people don't have parkas or even own gloves.

My cousin's SO grew up in So Cal, and lives in SC now, and this past Xmas, she didn't know that you let the faucets drip when it's this cold.

she didn't know that you let the faucets drip when it's this cold.

It's driving me nuts letting the kitchen faucet drip. Every time I go in the kitchen, I reach to turn it off, and then remember.

I don't really miss the running, per se, but I miss having just been running.

That makes total sense. I still don't enjoy running so much. but I love feeling that accomplished post-run.

I think this is the only corner of the country where it is shaping up to be a beautiful day.

It is lovely and crisp up here, too. I remember having 8+ days of -65F when I was in middle school - they finally only closed school when the buses couldn't actually operate any more. I don't miss that.

You paid your dues, juliana, so you definitely get to enjoy the temperate weather.

Friends of mine who live just short of the Quebec border point out that you can tell if you're in the REAL North when schools don't have "snow days".

I think it depends on the school district. When I lived in a rural district, it was about 15 miles from the high school to the edge of the district and not much of it was on roads that would see a plow first. We'd see occasional snow days. After I moved into town (and a different school district), snow days were more rare.

On the other hand, I'm trying to wrap my head around closing schools for cold weather. Especially when the low is 5 above zero.

On the other hand, I'm trying to wrap my head around closing schools for cold weather.

Are you an 8 year old with a crappy coat waiting a bus to arrive? We had way more closings for cold than snow because it's really a lot more dangerous for kids.

The buses are generally not heated, either, and in a lot of places kids have to walk a good distance from their stop to home.

That said, we didn't even have a delayed opening here today, which surprised me.

A friend of mine works at a residential school for the deaf in Georgia, and that school is having buses bring the kids between the dorms and the class buildings and the cafeteria, rather than having them walk like they usually do, because most of the kids don't have jackets and hats and gloves and stuff suitable for the weather they're having.

Are you a 8 year old with a crappy coat waiting a bus to arrive?

I waited for a bus from K-8. The last 2 years, I caught the bus at 7:00. To be fair, I don't remember any coat being crappy, and with a mother whose hobby was knitting, face masks and the like weren't really a problem.

I just don't remember school shutting down for cold weather when I was growing up. Maybe it did happen and I've forgotten, but I don't remember it ever happening.

Equipment failure, mostly. A lot of people here are telecommuting today simply because their cars wouldn't start. If you aren't in a place that normally has to deal with such temps, you don't have the resources handy (also see NM's big freeze a couple years ago. It was so cold the water at a gas plant started to freeze and the gas pressure to the lower half of the state and into Texas dropped. And that affected the power grid because some of those plants are gas fired and….it was miserable and caused a lot of structural damage.)

There are schools here that have to close when the temp is too hot because they don't have functioning a/c. Same diff.

I have 115 lbs of workbench in my house! Now I just have to find time and a place to put it together.