OK, I know enough not to expect sympathy from those who are dealing with temperatures in the negative numbers. (I still don’t get how you can measure the absence of something… negative 4 degrees to me means 4 degrees less than zero temperature – zero temperature equals no temperature at all so how can you have less than no temperature?) And that’s why I’m not a meteorologist.

I am racking my brain to remember the coldest I ever was. I remember the big blizzard in DC in 1966. I was in grade school then and can recall playing outside – scaling the Mount Everest-like mounds that the snowplows conveniently piled up in front of our driveways.  That wasn’t cold then… it was just fun.

There was the snowfall of 1974 in Pennsylvania when my car drifted into a snowbank where I was stuck overnight until I could dig myself out. I was a college guy then and I fortunately had a libation with me which I cracked open and that seemed to make me impervious to the cold… or so I chose to believe.

Then there was the blizzard of 1983 that shut down the DC area for a day or two. I was working then for a transportation company that had international responsibilities. A local snowfall wasn’t going to stop the business we had in other countries. I had to walk through waist high snow for a mile to get to the office to handle the incoming calls. Out of 100 people, I was one of six who was able to make it in.  I don’t remember the cold… just the determination.

I’m pretty sure each of those examples at the time would have struck me as being unbearably cold but our minds have the capability to pick and choose what we want to remember.  I guess I chose to remember the experiences without the accompanying temperatures.

I hope my Northern friends have similar experiences with their minds.  Stay warm and safe ya’ll. Build some good memories.

Michael Ondrasik and Home Video Studio specialize in the preservation of family memories. For more information, call 352-735-8550 or visit www.homevideostudio.com/mtd.