The cough: Everyone in Minnesota seems to get the holiday cough.
Some are unlucky enough to catch one of the viruses going around this time of
year and their cough is heard down the grocery aisles and over the cubicle
walls. For the rest of us, the below-zero weather does it. Cold dry air causes spasms in our airways that
makes even the healthy wheeze and cackle. We quickly learn to breathe
through our scarves and not through our open mouths. When the weather gets so
cold that condensation builds up on our windows inside the house, we are forced
to turn the humidifier down even further—bringing on even more of the winter cough.
The crunch: Walking on snow usually produces no sound at
all, as sound waves are absorbed by the fluffy blanket surrounding us. Yet, shovels scrape driveways, ice scrapers clear windshields and prying open a rarely used door that has
iced over—all of these actions produce a crunch. In Minnesota, when the weather dips between 0 and 20 degrees, that
same silent snow speaks to us. Walking in it produces a distinctive crunch.
The squeak: When temperature drops even further, to anything below
zero and especially when it gets down to -14 as it has the past few days, even
the ice crystals within snow freezes. This causes snow to squeak when
compressed. It is a delightful sound. Tires backing out of driveways squeak.
Footsteps approaching mall entrances squeak. We squeak walking to the mailbox.
We squeak as we hurry to an open liquor store to stock up before New Year’s
Eve. It matters not how big or little you may be, or what your footwear of
choice might be—we all squeak. Everyone hears it, and we smile because of it.
Even in this ridiculous cold—I love Minnesota.
Don't believe me? Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfD11omFQ88
