2. -4. -20.

Bottom line: It is crazy cold outside!

Interestingly, the temperature readings sync perfectly with the approval rating for such cold weather.

Living in the Midwest typically does not conjure up thoughts of Antarctic-caliber winds, negative temperatures (with and without wind chill readings) or cell chilling cold (it’s beyond bone chilling at this point). Even though it’s the Winter season, there’s usually a limit (or floor, actually) to how cold the weather will drop to on any given day. It can be freezing, but tolerable. Or, to put it another way, it can be livable. Life goes on, just with an extra scarf or sweater. There are infinite examples of frigid days and/or seasons in the Midwest, but having to scrape ice from the outside and inside of one’s car just to achieve minimal driving visibility is new, frustrating territory.

Not cool.

Thankfully, this portal into the lifestyle of the paralyzingly cold and miserable is temporary and limited to only a couple days. However, it does provoke a curiosity about the limits of what’s possible. As unbearable as this recent trip through Mother Nature’s anomalous and unforgiving cold spell has been, it makes you think, for a split second anyways, if there is anything to explore extensively or more extensively in the many environments and locations that support this degree of cold weather for long periods of time.

Is there something spectacular and life-altering to explore in below zero terrains that we have yet to even contemplate? Is there any technology that can be developed to somehow capture this ever present cold weather/wind for a personal or societal advantage?

Strangely enough, the beginning of the movie Gravity comes to mind. There is a description on the screen about how literally unlivable Space is without special equipment for humans. And without extraordinary achievements and understanding of scientific principles and technology, protective gear and necessary rope connections, humans would never have the means to explore Space beyond a nightly gaze at an infinite array of stars. But it all has to start with a crazy idea. Incredibly, it’s actually surprisingly difficult to imagine a world where we aren’t actively in Space for various missions.

Unbelievable only until it happens. And from that point on, the sky is literally the limit.

Unfortunately for most everybody, this spirit of inquisitiveness lasts as long as our body heat after walking outside in -7 (or -20 with wind chill) degree weather. One day though, someone daringly insane will show us all what we have been missing all these Winters. There may even be a discovery that could transform how humans act and interact with Mother Nature during the coldest of days and months.

For now, I’m content with my life decision to not live my life as an Eskimo.

However, hopefully someone will be creative enough to see a seemingly impossible vision through the transparent, bone chilling cold.

If so, we would live in a crazy cold world indeed.