A Taste of Home

I grew up in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and 21 times I rode the earth around the sun from up there. And while tilted away from our star, the climate was mean. Temperatures that would make you shatter like a poorly hung glass Christmas ornament if you got struck by the door getting on the transit bus. When you are annually surrounded by that kind of atmosphere, you not only get used to it, but you can actually enjoy it. At least the snow anyway. It is a way of life after all. Most Winter games and other activities were created in the North Star State. After living in the South the last 16 years, I have been spoiled when it comes to Winters. In my former life, sub-zero temperatures were expected, and, while cursed at, they were dealt with.

Here, we don't get that. The coldest it seems to get is in the single digits--with the harshest winds slapping you in the face. What we also don't get down here is a decent snowfall. Even the heartiest Minnesotan would call a four-inch snowfall decent. And while most Minnesotans know how to navigate through their version of Winter, many North Carolinians do not. You could say "can you blame them? Most have little to no experience driving on snow and ice-slicked roads." That may be the case, but I think a lot of drivers either don't have common sense, or don't use it when it comes to navigating a ton and a half of steel over a slick roadway. Most of what I've seen has occurred on the state highways and interstates. I can't say how people behave on the narrower roads with lower speed limits, as I haven't really been on those roads. But, while driving the roads that have speed limits of 55 and above, I've seen many drivers traveling over the posted speed limit--some as much as ten mph over! These people have no imagination. Other things I've seen that grind my gears is people who drive in this kind of weather when it is approaching dusk and they don't have any lights on, nor do they use any turn signals when changing lanes, and they tailgate. People like that will drive that way until they are involved in a crash, and maybe then they will change their behaviors to more safer ones.
Good thing North Carolina doesn't see Minnesota weather very often. Or is it?