M.D. Thalmann bemoans the various temperatures and other topics of the season

Hot or Chilly

M.D. Thalmann bemoans the various temperatures and other topics of the season.

I’m supposed to write a cheery, upbeat little blurb about civilian life in the suburbs. Meanwhile, other folks are going to outer space, finding water on Mars, developing driver-less cars, and such––you know, important stuff. Me? Well, the best topic I could come up with is Arizona weather. Newsflash––it’s not hot! At least, it’s not 100 degrees at this moment.

I’m not from Arizona, so I’m used to being able to wear a variety of styles and layers. I also like to play in the snow and huddle around a fire. My wife, not so much. She has been here too long and can’t cope with the cold. She’s probably wearing a blanket in our 70-degree home right now.

Love it or hate it, chilly days are here for but a short time. I have some ideas on how to enjoy this weather to the fullest, or we can commiserate on the bad times, if you’re a glass half-broken type…

For me, the number one reason to enjoy the weather is that I can suspend my gym membership and run outside or exercise at home in my converted garage gym. My mobility is very limited in the summer months because the risk of heat stroke far outweighs the reward of pants that fit properly.

Other good news: I can finally wear my expensive winter coat again! I have boxes upon boxes of cold-weather clothes because they are really stylish. This is why I keep buying them, plus I need to keep something fashionable nearby in case I decide to go back home for the holidays and settle in with some good southern cooking, euphemisms, and hypothermia.

Should I decide to stay here in the “frigid” desert rather than venture south, I can break out my snowboard and head to Sunrise or Snowbowl. One of my favorite things to do is to plan a day trip, but I often end up getting snowed in on the way back because the I-17 is so rough and ragged that a slight drizzle cripples the artery back to my comfy fat-boy bed. I make do by paying for a rickety room in Flagstaff with a hot tub in the bedroom. The hot tub is nice––if you have plenty of bleach.

When it’s nice and chilly my neighbors and I just love to take turns tending our fire pits, roasting marshmallows for the kids, and tossing back a few. The camaraderie around the fire pits in our neighborhood is probably the main reason we settled there.

Another reason to love this season is that football has been reduced down to the best of the best and it’s all on the line for playoffs. (It should be noted that my columns are written a couple months in advance, so I have no way of knowing if the Cardinals actually did make it to the playoffs or, is it too much to hope, the Super Bowl. For now, let’s say they are in it and about to make us all proud on Feb. 7. Hope runs deep in my household. I’m not just a fair-weather fan. Go Cards!)

There are some negatives to cold weather that I’ll readily admit. Mainly, there are so many holidays devoted to eating and sitting on your duff in the winter months. This year I pledge to stay active and run from the fruitcake and laziness by offering my services to those who don’t have enough. I recently volunteered at Feed My Starving Children and was so humbled by all the good work they do. Everyone should give back, the weather notwithstanding.

Perhaps my biggest niggle with the winter months is that Christmas is smack dab in the middle. Aside from the religious aspect, this holiday seems solely designed to deplete my savings account to assure I never get that trip to Italy I have an itch to take. This holiday really shouldn’t be about how much we can consume as a society, but how much we can be there for our families. With that thought, this season, let’s only jingle half the way, while banding together to stay warm and spend more quality time where it matters most.