Today’s regained knowledge involves the power of cold temperatures. I remember, from several winters ago, the capacity weather possesses to disrupt our ability to travel. Even with a light dusting of snow—and the effect of that snow thawing under car tires and then refreezing—very hilly terrain can become virtually unmanageable in most passenger vehicles. The advice a short while ago from the management of the community in which I live—that residents stay off the roads if possible (and announcing the closure of a particularly treacherous hill)—reminded me that the capacity of humans to cope with climate is a function of past experience. I asked myself whether our community’s reaction to a light dusting of snow was indicative of our inability to function in such weather or simply our inexperience with snow and cold temperatures. It’s both, the former an artifact of the latter. That’s what I’ve learned anew this morning.
