The big chill

VIEWPOINT

By RALPH HARDIN

Evening Times Editor O ne of my favorite all-time clever quips comes from a man who was known for a bunch of them – even ones he didn’t actually say – writer Mark Twain.

Twain is purported to have come back inside from a cold day and said, “I went outside to check the temperature and there wasn’t one.” I think that’s a pretty close estimate of how cold it was over the past few days.

Now, granted, it wasn’t quite as cold as in 2021 when it legit got down to zero degrees. That one was accompanied by snow and ice, which my daughter and I tried to go out and play in. Well, I used to say, “Once it gets down below freezing, it’s pretty much just ‘cold’ outside.” Well, I can now tell you that there is, in fact, a big difference in, say 25 degrees and 5 degrees.

Another funny line about the cold comes from the TV show “Futurama,” when the characters find themselves on the dark side of the Moon (it’s a cartoon, so just go with it). They are told the temperature is going to drop to minus 125. One of the characters asks, “Fahrenheit or Celsius?” The guy they’re talking to says, “First one, then the other.” Now that’s cold!

But yes, it did get dangerously chilly around here (and around most of the country) over the holiday weekend – enough so that the presidential inauguration was moved indoors for the first time since 1985. I think the coldest I saw around these parts was 9 degrees, but with windchill and such factored in, it was more like minus 9.

I did my best to just stay indoors and with a couple of exceptions for food runs and such, we managed. I saw a few cases while scrolling through social media that there were frozen pipes and other cold-related issues aplenty though, so my thoughts and prayers are with those folks. This is especially true of a lady who was featured on News Channel 3 because her apartment complex has been largely without heat for about a month now. She, and I assume the other residents of the Four Seasons Apartments in Marion, have been having to rely on space heaters and other less-than-ideal methods of keeping warm – which sort of works when the daytime highs are hovering in the 50s, but do little to no good once it’s below freezing outside for several days.

So, shame on the complex’s owners for allowing folks to go without heat, and double shame on them for letting the problem persist for so long. I mean, what was the plan? To hope the problem would somehow miraculously fix itself? For the residents to just go the winter wearing extra layers? Expecting global warming to kick in and turn the Mid-South into a tropical paradise? Just pathetic …

But in any event, it does look like we might get above freezing today for a little while and it will be much more pleasant (at least for winter time) the next few days, with maybe even the 50s making a reappearance early next week. But it’s still a long trek until springtime – which around here, could mean March, could mean May, could mean a “fake spring” followed by an April snowstorm, so who knows?

That means at least a couple more months of likely cold and dreary weather, and that also means a high chance of a lot of folks suffering from depression, particularly Seasonal Affective Disorder. I got an email the other day explaining that January is Mental Health Awareness Month. Yeah, I know it seems like every month is some kind of “awareness” month. Or, I guess I should say, “I’m aware.” but in any event, with mental health becoming a hotter topic these days than it has ever been, I think it’s worth pointing out that this time of year – having just come off the holiday season, the already-mentioned dismal weather, and the uncertainty about the future that a new year on the calendar can bring – a lot of folks are going through some things, and many of them are doing it alone.

So, with that in mind, if you know someone who is going through hard times, lonely times or just dealing with the hardships of winter time, make the effort to check in on them or even get them involved in something that might take the burden off, even if it’s just for a little while. Just knowing someone out there cares enough to make an effort can go a long way toward getting over the wintertime blues.

And if you’re the one who is battling depression, seasonal or otherwise, there are resources available. The email I got was from the Jason Foundation. You can visit www.jasonfoundation.com to learn about available resources and find the closest Jason Foundation Affiliate Office.

Stay safe and stay warm!