This is the Place!

So, today winter finally came. Oh I know, it’s officially been winter for about three weeks. But for those of us in NW Ohio, it’s kinda felt like we were magically moved to North Carolina or something. Days in the 50’s have not been uncommon, while temperatures in the teens have been scarce, if they’ve come at all. It’s been perfect winter running weather, if only I had the energy to really get out there and put some miles in. Call it global warming, call it luck of the draw, call it whatever you want, it hasn’t been normal.

Until today. Today was the day that ice covered my driveway. Today was the day my cat sat at the closed door and cried, then howled in horror at the open door (repeated many times!)  Today was the day when I actually put a vest on over my sweatshirt. And today was finally the day I was so grateful that I had the car starter installed in my truck last December.

But also, today was the day when I wondered, as I do at least once each year, what in the world are we doing living in this climate anyway. No, really. I honestly can’t figure it out. Yes, I know we have houses, and central heat, and heaters in our cars, and lots of warm clothes. And yes, we get by. But what about years and years and years ago, when people first settled in this area?

Now, no matter whether you believe human life began as evolved ape-creatures in Africa, as Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, or as spores dropped from alien spacecraft, no matter what, it didn’t start in weather like this. No, Africa never had this climate, and I don’t remember snow being mentioned in Genesis (although I suppose maybe I just missed it), and well, I just figure the aliens would have chosen a better seeding ground than here. No matter what you think about the beginning of human life, it most certainly have started somewhere just a tad more balmy than here.

Which (finally) gets to my point. What are we doing here? No, really. Imagine you’re a human life form many many years ago. Living as nice a life as you can muster many miles south of here. I suppose I can see how maybe you’d get the urge to wander, to migrate, to move elsewhere. Maybe you were searching for better food, or finding a new place to plant something. Or just getting away from an annoying neighbor. Yes, I can see why you’d want to move.

But to here? Really? Does this make any sense? If you’re  that warm-weather prehistoric man, living the good life in southern California (or its prehistoric equivalent) as you wandered north, and the weather got cold, why in the world would you have stayed? OK, maybe you took the road trip in the summer. But you know, prehistorics didn’t really have fast transportation. It would have taken you many months to get anywhere. So it would have been winter before you got too far. Why didn’t you just turn around and go back home? Seriously. It would have made a whole lot more sense than killing a bear, skinning it, letting it dry out, and somehow making a coat out of its fur. Don’t you agree? Somehow, I just can’t imagine some human many years ago wandering up to this part of the world, arriving here on a day like today, and saying “Yep, this is the place for me. All I have to do is kill a bunch of animals for clothing, spend a month or two fashioning a shelter of some kind, break through some ice to get some water, wait a few months till I see anything green again, and invent something called fire and I’ll be fine and dandy. Hey Marge, let’s call this home!”

Honestly, every winter, there is one day. And this year it was today. As I was walking into work, wind blowing in my face, snow flying, and my cheeks so cold they hurt, that I wonder. Really? Really? We humans settled here?

What were we thinking?