Face Coverings in Minnesota: A How-To

'Tis the season where my 25-block walk to work becomes increasingly difficult. Some may be following the headlines about a bit o' frozen precipitation hitting the Midwest - true indeed.

The snow is like a fine dust - I can't help but think it must be akin to the dust that covered Oklahoma in the 30's during the Dust Bowl. It's very, very light but covers everything and is so dry that it's not icy but blows around and amasses in big drifts that are knee-deep in some places.

'Tis the season of a spilled drink on the sidewalk whose ice cubes stayed frozen and the drink inside froze in a puddle around it. And as for face coverings...

I suited up this morning for my walk (it's not even really cold yet, they tell me). I covered the bottom half of my face with my scarf and in a move of brilliance, remembered to grab my sunglasses for eye protection. Once I got outside and started stumbling around in the snowdrifts, my glasses immediately fogged up because I was breathing into my scarf. Then, of course, the fog on my glasses froze and I couldn't see anything, at which point my next step plunged my foot into a mid-calf deep snow drift. Luckily, not being Minnesotan, or at least not hating the winter with passion yet, I found myself laughing uncontrollably at myself. I quickly learned that it just takes the right technique. One must breathe into the lower fold of the scarf and the glasses stay fog free.

'Tis also the season of neighbors! So many people were shoveling their walkways. I said hello, buenos días, and thank you, to at least 6 people this morning. (Normally, I'm lucky if I exchange a greeting with one other person on my way to work.) And it's fitting to thank those who shovel their walkways - I realized it's like parking kindly or letting someone with fewer items go ahead of you in line - it's a contribution to the public good. We were in solidarity together, making our way through the snow: at intersections, people taking their turn preemptively were kindly tolerated - once you start, you can't really stop easily driving in the snow. This all lends credence to my theory that people in more extreme climates are kinder to each other. Or maybe just Minnesotans are nicer than SoCal-ians. (Have you noticed my love for sweeping generalizations about large populations of people? Now matter how ill-advised and unscientific they might be, I just love making them. Bear with me.)

Ta-ta for now, stay toasty!