Listening to the weather report yesterday,
I heard the announcer report cool weather was coming to this area for a few days.
"And so," he said, "be sure to bundle up!"
Now bundle up in Mesa, Arizona, means something like, "Put on a sweater." It most definitely means something different than to us in Minnesota.
Bundle up in Minnesota means layers of clothing: sweatshirts, lined pants, Parka jackets with hoods, wool scarves and mittens. Oh yes, and boots. Preferably fur-lined.
I remember when "bundle up" didn't mean a thing, even in Minnesota. That's when a teenage girl's ears heard those words in the 60s.
Out we would go to catch the bus several blocks away, or even walk to school, wearing a skirt and sweater, a fashionable jacket, and flat shoes with nylons. Never, ever would anything cover our legs or feet, and unless we were very desperate, we wouldn't be caught dead in boots.
When I was a little tot, I remember a red one-piece wool snowsuit my mother would dress me in...itchy, itchy, itchy...but very warm.
While most of the country is being clobbered with snow storms and ice, we are apparently setting records in Arizona as well. The cool weather here in Mesa this week is very unusual and we're told it's the coldest it has gotten in decades.
It is having the most peculiar results.
For instance, the Waste Management golf tournament was delayed for hours this morning as frost covered the greens. Unheard of.
I was shopping yesterday and stores were experiencing computer issues: cash registers not working, credit cards not being accepted, and so on. When I asked what the problem was, the clerk said, "Oh, it's this cold weather."
It affects electronic devices here as cables and wiring aren't prepared for the "cold." Our cable TV goes out at night and doesn't come back on until about noon (when it warms up!).
Strange, indeed.
Wherever you are, I hope you are staying safe, warm, drinking cocoa with a peppermint stick or candy cane in it, and eating hot oatmeal.
And bundling up!
