Freezing Vengeance
January has been one of the coldest months ever. Off the top of my head, I don’t remember one month in particular having this much consistent arctic air in my lifetime. The lows have been brutal and the highs haven’t necessarily been any better. Of course, since I was always closer to Florida than Atlanta, I never really experienced true cold weather like I experience now.
Back when I was growing up, it was rare to see temperatures under 30 degrees. Even at the coldest, it would usually only dip below the 30’s during the middle of the night. It never snowed and school very rarely got canceled because of inclement weather. In fact, I’ve seen 80 degree weather on Christmas and I still decided to wear a festive sweater just for the vibes. Safe to say, we definitely had to turn on the A/C that day to stay cool.
Moving further north, even in the same state, comes with a different cadence of weather. You actually have four distinct seasons instead of mostly summer and a little bit of fall. There’s also a chance for more severe storms since there’s different temperatures of air constantly changing, mixing, and mingling. The summers are never unbearable and the winters are definitely colder and require proper gear to survive.
I remember there was only one day in either late 2022 or early 2023 when the low was about 8 degrees. Fast forward to this year, and we’ve probably spent at least half of the month battling lows around 15 to 30 degrees. Typically Georgia will have maybe one to three super cold days before a gradual increase in temperatures but the weather this year has been consistently freezing cold.
It’s a never ending cycle of being cold, getting warm, and then feeling a substantial enough breeze to be cold again. Even the dogs have been struggling with the chilly temperatures. Nala especially hates cold weather so it’s been a hassle getting her to go outside late at night when the temperature really starts dropping. We’ve been having to bribe her by putting on her coat and asking her multiple times to go outside. On the rare occasion we get a really sunny day, they look forward to soaking up the warmth by sunbathing next to a window.
It seems like it gets colder and colder each year. November and December are pretty mild but then January and February come around with a freezing vengeance. They’re always the coldest months right before we warm up for the spring. During this time, it’s almost too cold to spend any substantial time outside like hiking and biking. Just running to the store for groceries, refueling the car, and grabbing lunch is enough cold weather for one day.
We take this down time to rest and relax before the marathon known as softball season starts in late February. While the temperatures are still more frigid than I’d prefer, the games are usually played during the warmest parts of the day. We pack blankets, gloves, scarves, and neck warmers to make sure we don’t get frostbite while calling balls and strikes. Even though it’s not necessarily warm, it’s always great getting out of the house for an enjoyable sporting event.
I always used to say that I’d rather be cold than hot, but with all this cold weather, I’m starting to rethink my statement. It’s definitely easier to get warm since you can put on comfy hoodies, furry socks, snuggle with your favorite person or fur baby, take a warm shower, or sit next to a space heater. When you’re hot though, the only options are to either suffer while waiting for your body temperature to naturally cool down, find a fan to circulate some much needed air flow, or take a cold shower. You’re also typically less aggravated when you’re cold than when you’re hot.
As a true southerner, I actually really like the snow since it doesn’t happen all the time. There’s never enough in a winter season for me to get tired of how frequently it snows or to have any drainage issues when it starts to melt. Thankfully work, school, and the whole world gets canceled if it’s a significant amount that sticks to the ground. I always try to go out and play in it if I can since you never know when you’ll see it again. It could snow the very next year or there could be multiple years before we get to frolic in the snowflakes again.
Overall, I can’t wait until it warms up a little bit because I’m craving a new outside adventure with temperatures preferably warmer than 70 degrees. That’s when our shared Google Calendar will be filled with events, sporting games, hiking and biking trails, and activities to keep us busy.
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Signed,
Jessica Marie
