It's full-fledged winter, but we've been having some pretty mild temperatures here in Vegas, which is fairly normal.  It works out well for me as I'm not the world's biggest fan of the cold.  I don't mind a nice crisp day that requires a jacket once in a while, but I don't really feel the need to experience temperatures that penguins would feel at home in.  

We have cousins in Maine who reported it was one degree Fahrenheit there the other day.  A couple days before that I was talking to a friend who lives in Ottawa.  He was faring slightly better at a balmy eleven degrees.  That's just too cold, people.  I took  my Christmas decorations down over the weekend while wearing a t-shirt.  I had to take my jacket off because I was getting too hot.  That's definitely more my speed.  It has been dipping down into the thirties and even below freezing a couple of times at night, so it's not like it's not cold at all, but it's been getting to some reasonably pleasant temperatures during the day.

Of course here in the desert we have some murderously hot summers and they're undoubtedly pretty intense.  But honestly, it's true what they say about the dry heat not being as bad.  We went to a wedding in Wisconsin last August and the humidity was such that I thought it was more miserable in the mid-eighties there than it is at like one hundred and fifteen here.  

I spent four winters in Illinois when I was in college, so I have experienced living in what I would consider some pretty cold weather.  There was a substantial amount of snow that stuck to the ground and sub-freezing temperatures were the norm during the winter months.  It was definitely a little strange to me to have to get all suited up in a heavy jacket, scarf, gloves, hat, etc. any time I needed to venture outside, even if it was just for a minute.  I remember sometimes I'd step out before my hair had completely dried from the shower and it would instantly freeze.  That was a strange sensation.  I was kind of lucky in that I didn't have a car then, so I didn't have to experience what I think would be some of the worst aspects of really cold weather.  I never had to shovel a driveway or go out an hour early to warm up the car or even drive in the ice and snow.  But even without all that, my time there was enough to convince me I preferred warmer climes.  

One observation I had was that how you experience temperature is actually relative to what you're used to.  Forty degrees feels really cold after you've been experiencing warm summer weather, but it feels quite nice after a heavy winter freeze.  I remember in college when students arrived for the beginning of the school year in September everyone would be wearing shorts and t-shirts.  By October temperatures would cool off a bit and usually the first day it dipped into the fifties everyone would start wearing long pants and jackets.  Then in the spring after a long cold winter, the first day the temperatures climbed up into the fifties everyone would bust out the shorts and t-shirts again.  Same exact temperature, totally different feeling.  It's an interesting phenomenon for sure.  

Humans are adaptable and we can get used to different climates and temperatures, but I'm partial to a little warmth.  It doesn't need to get too warm, though.  It sure would be nice if those polar ice caps would stay intact and unmelted.