Published: January 13, 2009 09:15 pm      

LUCINSKI: Cold enough for you?

If you had to go outside to get your paper this morning, or even if you just had to open the door, you found that it was plenty cold. Actually, it was plenty not warm. That’s because cold is simply the absence of heat. The less heat in the atmosphere, the colder it is. We don’t wear thick or layered clothes or pile on the blankets to keep out the cold; we’re holding in the warmth.

Now that we’re all smarter than a fifth grader on that score, it’s time to hunker down and handle the fallout from the current cold snap. As cold as it is today, the National Weather Service expects the big chill to get even chillier Thursday and Friday. Single digits will be the rule and there’s a good chance of thermometer readings dipping below zero until things moderate a bit this weekend.

So how do we deal with it? News organizations like to offer tips to beat the cold when the weather gets this way, much as they do in the summer heat when the temperature exceeds 90 or 95 degrees for a stretch. It’s called “News You Can Use” or some such cliché.

We at the Gazette are not immune to it. On Tuesday, we published suggestions from the automobile organization AAA on how to prepare one’s car for the coming cold. One local television station focused on keeping the pipes in your home from freezing.

Other suggestions offered at times like this: Always wear a hat; you lose most of your heat through your head. Mittens are better than gloves; they use the body warmth of your hands more efficiently. Make sure you find proper shelter for your pets; sure they wear fur coats but sub-zero nights can make it difficult for any dog or cat. And water bowls freeze over, so make sure their water is liquid, not solid. All these things are true and good to know but anyone who has spent any time at all in these parts has a good idea on how to deal with Old Man Winter flexing his muscles.

The prospect of bone-chilling cold can trigger memories for those of us who have lived through Western New York winters that have been, shall we say, challenging. I can remember one in particular.

It was right about this time of year, January of 1967, some 42 years ago. The temperature did not get above 5 degrees for one solid week. That’s 5 degrees for a high reading.

It also happened to be the week when my father fell ill. Now he was the kind of guy, during his career, who would work if he could walk. At that time, he operated his own business; a service station on Upper Mountain Road in Lewiston. And those were the days before self-service gas stations. If you pulled up to the pumps an attendant would come out and put the fuel into your car. You never got out. Quaint concept, huh? I’d do that job, working for my dad in the evenings and on weekends.

But, as any small business owner will tell you, if you don’t work you don’t eat. And, as you see by my photo, eating is a favorite pastime of mine, then and now. Since my dad was so sick he couldn’t walk, it was up to me to help keep the doors open.

So every day that week, I had special dispensation to leave Lewiston-Porter High School at about 11 a.m., get a quick, warm lunch at home and get to the station to pump gas in the bitter cold.

No complaints. In fact, as another cliché goes, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Making it through that week taught me how to deal with other obstacles thrown in my way later in life.

So people get ready for the cold that’s coming. Stock up on the hot chocolate, bring in the pets, turn up the heat and sit by the fire. As we’ve done so many times before, we’ll get through this cold snap. And remember, April is only three months away.

Dick Lucinski is the managing editor of the Niagara Gazette. His columns appear on Wednesday and Sunday.