To illustrate my point

Here is my car. There is a layer of ice inside the windows from respiration condensation. The jagged lines you see in the ice were my frantic attempt at using a broken ice scraper while still sitting in the driver's seat so I wouldn't hit anyone while backing up.

The white stuff behind the car is, of course, a hill of snow.

Poor California car.

Maddening!

I realized on the way to the haircut appointment (study up on part 1 and part 2) that I'm the nutty one living in this environment. It all seems nutty to me, but really, I'm the one who just doesn't quite get it.

Case in point:

I was on my way today somewhere in the car. It was 3 degrees outside. I was early to my destination and needed to return a phone call, which I did in the car while waiting for the time to tick. (Irony: I was calling California.) I knew 15 minutes in a warm-ish car would be ok and that I wouldn't freeze. What happened, though, is that my respiration collected inside the car as condensation. And froze. All of my car windows are covered on the inside with a layer of ice. It's a real bitch. I now have to scrape the ice out from inside my car.

(If you don't live in a cold place: CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? Eesh.)

I mean, it's got to be common sense for the locals. It never occurred to me to not breathe in my car in the winter while the heat isn't running. Just like it didn't occur to me that accidentally not locking the back door might cause pipes to burst.

While the title of this blog is "Those crazy Minnesotans!" I am quickly coming to admit that half or more of what I need to talk about here has to do with my total lack of intuition for all things northern.

It's so maddening! In social work talk, it's a paradigm shift.