Winter Clothing

While in California I stopped to get gas at a station in Pleasanton one evening. The temperature had dipped to 50 degrees so a bit chilly - I had a sweatshirt on. While pumping gas (when was the last time you "pumped" gas?) I saw this couple walk by with two dogs. What caught my attention was their dress. They had heavy winter coats on, hoods on their coats over their heads and both wore gloves.

Hazel and I looked at each other thinking "its not that cold...what wimps." I first figured they were California wimps unable to with-stand even cool temperatures. Further reflection has led me to conclude they more likely are recent immigrants to California from someplace like Minnesota.

When you've lived in a seriously cold place like Green Bay or Chicago, you learn to hoard heat. It isn't something to be squandered. Just the idea of getting cold, shivering and shaking, prompts immediate clothing escalation. The cavalier manner in which warm weather citizens greet the cold is culturally shocking.

I remember moving to Pleasanton from Chicago. It was late March and I'd go to work with temperatures in the 40's. The shop would have overhead doors wide open and I hated to leave the office and go out there until later in the morning when the sun had warmed the room to comfortable levels. Its hard to convey the psychological discomfort I experienced but I can understand the heavy coats.