Is It Really Colder...?

I heard a wise man once say, "History begins when you were born." I'm not sure if that wise man was the originator of that thought, and I can't at this moment remember exactly who it was who said it, but as I grow older, the phrase makes more and more sense to me.

So, what does that have to do about if it's colder outside than normal?

Good question.

I live in Northern Utah, almost to Idaho. It can get cold where we live--not Colorado or Alaska or Canada cold, but cold...cold enough that at certain times you'll die if you're outside at night without adequate protection. Thankfully, we have a beautiful home that protects us from the elements. We're grateful for our house--it allows us to survive.

But, back to the cold question. Right now where we live, it feels like December or January. My wife said the other day, she can't remember a time when we went from turning off the a/c to turning on the heater in the home the next day. I agree. It's unusual. We had an incredible Indian Summer this fall. Then, it got cold. But, is it that much colder than usual?

One thing humans do very well is keep track of stats. As technology improves, so do the facts. I could, if I wished, check the average temperature of our town year after year as long as records have been kept. These records will give me the definitive answer to the question, is it colder?

The problem is, people nowadays don't like facts at times if it goes against what they believe to be true, especially if it requires the changing of opinions. Yes, it may be colder than normal. Then the question of "why" is asked. I'm not going there...too big an issue. 

When we think about history, so many times we only go back to what we ourselves remember. I remember there being so much snow in the winters in Northern Utah. Did we really get more snow back then? Now, it seems like we hardly get any snow at all. Is my own truth, my own history correct? Was there more snow in the winters years ago? Has the climate changed so much in my lifetime? Many look to the records for answers, but it's so much easier to remember how things "used to be."

I hope we get a lot of snow this winter. We need it. Is it the sign of things to come? Maybe, and if so, people years from now will remember this winter one way or the other...whether it actually happened or not.