The First "Real" Montana Winter in a While

I experienced a disturbing moment during the recent cold spell.

While outside shoveling the sidewalk a few days ago in -27 degree weather, I realized that I was quite comfortable. I wasn’t too cold or too hot. My hands weren’t aching. My face wasn’t even covered.

Perhaps I’ve lived here too long.

Of course I was shoveling out of the wind, which a couple of days earlier had cooled things to a relatively chilly -72, but it was straight up -27 nonetheless.

Winter seldom loses focus up here, and although this one just started, it was set up by a frigid fall. There’s been snow on the ground now for...