But it could be worse.
I was watching Good Morning America reporting on this cold snap this morning, checking in with various reporters across the northern part of the nation, and one of them was very close to a place where one of my family lines originated. I got to wondering what I would be waking up to this morning if they had not moved.
The Wilcoxens, Dunivans, Niccums and Hughes folks centered around Danville, Illinois, and a lot of them are still there. Only my great-grandfather moved to Texas. This morning in Danville?
-13 degrees (windchill -30 degrees)
The Hodge family came from Marion, Kentucky, a place I visited during springtime in 2008. My Hodge cousins are waking up this morning to:
7 degrees (windchill -5 degrees)
The Frankums came from Linden, Tennessee, another place I passed through on the trip, when it was ablaze with blooming dogwood. Linden this morning:
15 degrees (windchill 3 degrees)
Another ancestral home I spent some time in this year is Lentzville, Alabama, home of the Lentz family. Again a lot of them are still living there and this morning they will enter a chilly blast of:
18 degrees (windchill 5 degrees)
My McAfees moved around a lot, starting in Lincoln, Illinois, then spending a few years around Sac City, Iowa, and ending up in the neighborhood of Chillicothe, Missouri. Drum roll....
Lincoln IL: -14 degrees (windchill -30)
Sac City, IA: -18 degrees (windchill -41)
Chillicothe, MO: -7 degrees (windchill -21)
Sac City, IA: -18 degrees (windchill -41)
Chillicothe, MO: -7 degrees (windchill -21)
The Masons were rooted in a little town in Pike County, Indiana, where the county seat of Petersburg today checks in at:
1 degree (windchill -14 degrees)
Thankfully I had one family line that was smart enough to start out in the south. My Mobleys came to Texas from Newnan, Georgia:
31 degrees (windchill 31 degrees)
You know? It's downright balmy here today. It's just a matter of perspective.
Bastrop, TX: 34 degrees (windchill 34)
LSW
5 comments:
Normally I adore you. I'm off to go try and thaw pipes. :-P
(I live about 20 miles west of Lincoln, IL)
I feel for ya. I thought seriously of moving to Colorado some years back, but I think it's a good thing I stayed put in warmer climes.
LSW
Anyone who chooses to live up north can't complain about the cold. Take for instance, my ex-wife. She moved back up to Wisconsin and was telling us on the phone the other day about how cold it got up there. So? If you don't like it, move away from the north pole already. The penguins and polar bears won't miss you, they'll make new friends. If you live north of I-10, you're a yankee. If you live north of Texas, you're a damn yankee! :)
Hey, kid, I live north of I-10 and I ain't no Yankee!! The cut-off in my mind is the Brazos River. North of that you're a Yankee. (Course, I had better be careful - I'm quarter Yankee, I guess, since my granddad was born in Indiana.)
My Yankee cousin! Ha Ha! Well, okay. North of the Brazos then! Better yet, make it Dallas...don't want to cut Larry out either. He ain't no Yankee.
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