Remember when we were tougher? Bud Grant roamed the sidelines in an outdoor stadium with nary a heater in sight. Kids bundled up in scratchy layers of wool and walked to school without complaint. Dogs didn't need sweaters.
Be warm. Be safe. But tougher, too?
We do, after all, have a reputation to protect.
January 29, 2019 at 11:53PM
It's all different now. We've got North Face jackets, bun-warming car seats and a statewide obsession with "windchill," whatever that is. We used to take pride in our ability to endure. Now we close schools, "work" at home and warn about the dangers of exposed flesh, black ice and something called the polar vortex.
Ski hills closed this week in Minnesota, along with the ice castles in Excelsior. You read that correctly: They closed ice castles because of cold. The downtown Minneapolis skyways remained open for those not "working" at home.
Colleges and universities shut down, safe-zoning the fittest of our species to dorm rooms and apartments to binge on Netflix. So much for higher learning in the Upper Midwest. High school hockey games were canceled, probably because of concerns the ice would get too cold.
"No matter how resilient the people of Minnesota may be, this weather should be taken seriously," Gov. Tim Walz said Tuesday. He's new on the job, but we expected a little more of a pep talk from the former high school football coach. Something like, "Suck it up!"
This newspaper advised its readers to watch "Rear Window" and eat soup. That's always a good call, and advice many of us followed long before we had windchill and black ice.
All kidding aside, be safe Minnesota — this is seriously dangerous weather. And turn up those bun warmers.
Now that Gov. Tim Walz’s vice presidential bid has ended, there’s important work to do at home. Reinvigorating that “One Minnesota” campaign is a must.
