My Cold Weather Manifesto

Summers were murder; two-a-days doubly so. Growing up in the sweltering Texas heat taught me two things: the sun is evil and don't go outside until December. Unfortunately, my parents had this pesky idea that children should do something besides read and play video games indoors all the time, so sometimes there was no avoiding the sun.

In college, something compelled me to pick up yarn and start hooking. Now, in my part of Texas, where the temperature usually only drops below 40 degrees a few days a year, knitting and crocheting might seem like a poor choice of hobbies. Given my growing knowledge of fibers, cotton would have been about the only thing worth using. My recollection is that my early efforts sat squarely in the "acrylic" territory, but memories are imperfect.

The fiber artist in me died after graduation and it wasn't until my move to New England five years later that yarn found me again. My yarn story is for another time, but suffice it to say it plays a large role in the following realization: I am a cold weather girl.

Texas is a wonderful place, and homesickness still tugs at me on a disturbingly frequent basis, but it will likely never be my home again. And that's okay, because it's not cold enough there anyway.

From blmiers on Flickr.

My first "real" winter taught me so many things -- put your windshield wipers up the night before a snow; always keep your shovel and scraper in the car, not the trunk; don't pass the plow truck, even on the left; don't use the rear defroster until the car warms up and not all windshield wiper fluid is created equal.

So now, as my third New England winter quickly approaches, there are two main thoughts in my mind, which are in direct opposition to that which my upbringing taught me: the sun brings great joy and don't go outside from December to March.

I love you, winter. I love being cold and I love making warm things to wear during your months. May it never be 90-degrees-in-the-shade again.

Don't be a

There's a reason that's blank.

People keep talking politics at me, and I keep trying to ignore them. But putting my head in the sand isn't going to work forever, so here's a primer to my politics.

1. Science education. - Tired of this creationism nonsense. Even people close to me think space exploration and research is a waste of time "when there are so many problems at home," but they have no idea how many innovations have come from the time we've already spent in space. And, you know, there's that whole education aspect. The more we educate kids/teens in science and math the better we can keep up the pace of discovery and innovation. Jobs, anyone?
2. Free healthcare at the expense of military budget cuts. - I'm sorry, but can we just let other countries sort out their own bloody fights for a few years? We've got other problems to deal with at home you say? Let's start with this, and use any money left over from cutting military budgets to find cures for diseases and give humanitarian aid to the countries we would otherwise be bombing.
3. Walk more, drive less. - This doesn't sound inherently political, but hear me out. The more you sit, the fatter your ass becomes. If you had to spend 10-15 minutes walking to and from, say, a train/bus stop you'd be less fat. Less fat means fewer health problems which in turn means lower healthcare bills. Even if number 2 never happened, those without insurance might be able to sock a few more dollars away before a health problem hits. This bullet point is about public transit. Again, remove some of that funding from the vast military budget to focus on a nationwide rail/bus system that actually works. Bullet train from sea to shining sea anyone?
4. Leave my uterus out of it. I'll decide whether killing a fetus is right or wrong. It's my fetus, after all. I don't like the idea of abortion any more than Christian fundamentalists, but unlike that particular group, I am completely okay with people who need/want one. (But that's another conversation)
5. Don't be a d***. This is the motto of the Internet now, and I think it should trickle up into politics. Just don't focus your efforts on screwing other countries/groups and it'll be fine. Of course, we can respond if other people are d***s to us, but let's at least be reasonable about that, too.

So yeah. Fund science, education, healthcare and public transit. Cut back on highways and military. Basic rights over first world problems. I'm not saying we should gut the military completely or disband the military. Before you grab your soap box and tell me about all the poor kids who rely on the military for their education, just try to understand that by funneling more money into education, more good teachers will teach those poor kids the stuff they need to know so they won't have to start military careers in the first place!

TL;DR: Don't be a d***.