Down to One Layer

Today first grade played outside.  We played outside without coats.  Do you understand how significant that is in North Dakota?  It’s right up there with Independence Day, Christmas, the beginning of a new millennium, and other celebrations of epic proportions.  It is the end of a long winter and the beginning of a short summer.  And we will revel in each and every glorious moment.

Now I’ll back up.  The air temperature has very little to do with whether or not we spend our recess outside.  These are hardy North Dakotans.  WE PLAY OUTSIDE, doggonit!  We don’t care what the thermometer says.  Twenty below?  We laugh at such balmy temperatures.  The thickness of our life-giving blood could clog the Boston subway system.  We tally-ho and sally forth without a thought as to what the air feels like on our tender, freeze-dried skin. 

Our To Play or Not To Play Outdoors rule is, if its colder that -15 wind chill, we herd our lads and lasses into the gymnasium.  Here’s the part that just cracks me up.  On those days, the kids are desperately disappointed.  They WANT to be outside even in brutally cold winter temperatures.  I may have mentioned at some point in my rambling that I grew up in Missouri.  Missouri does not see below zero temperatures, or at least rarely does.  We always felt that anything below 20 was life threatening.  Better stock up on the essentials and stay inside until the mercury is flirting with thirty again.

But here on the steppes of the frozen north, it is a much different story.  When I took courses this last year, I would get out of my very uncool Soccer Mom minivan, and would find myself staring at the bare legs of my young and hardy classmates, complete with flip flops.  We’re talking on below zero days!!

My youngest son, Cody, is an exception to the Stay-Outside-Till-You-Drop rule.  He has humorously portrayed his elementary grade teachers as nothing less than unsympathetic when it came to finding shelter from the bitter cold on the playground.  With a humorous flair for hyperbole, he claims he would complain about being cold to the on-duty recess teacher, who would take a drag from her Marlboro cigarette, blow the smoke in his face, and grunt, “You think you’re cold, kid?  Here... take a swig of my whiskey…”

Obviously an over-the-top portrayal (but on the other hand, how DID they stay warm out there??  Hmmmmm....)  Here’s the best part about my recess tale.  This year for the very first time in our school’s history, the teachers DO NOT HAVE RECESS DUTY.  That job has been relegated to other ancillary staff (sorry ladies, I know you feel gyped.  The whole time I’m gloating in my good fortune, I’m feeling your pain.  OK, I lied.  Not really).  The hard, “cold” truth is, I really hate to be cold.  Yeah, I know, wrong state to live in for year-round comfort.  I manage it all fine if I don’t have to be outside for long.  If I work it right, the only time I have to actually feel outdoor temperatures is the short walk from my vehicle to the front doors of the school, and then back again at the end of the day.  THAT I can take (barely). 

So why do I live here?  Well….that is a really good question.  The big answer is because this is where family is.  Family is everything.  But the minor answer is, North Dakota is the absolute greatest place to live during our summer months.  Warm days, LOTS of sunshine, low humidity, and endless daylight hours.  No lie, you can still see light on the western horizon at 11 pm.  When my kids were small, I would realize with shock that they were still up and running around waaaay too late.  Those long summer days lull you into thinking it’s early yet.  I LOVE that. 

And so…..

I joyously welcome the maiden arrival of spring with its temperate days, and the beginnings of my favorite time of the year.  And when we get that last blast of winter in May and I snap my annual photo of snow on ground when I should be putting in my garden, and clearing debris from my flower beds, I’ll stay brave and try not to complain (much).  I’ve lived here long enough now to not be knocked off-kilter by Jack Frost's last taunt.  The garden always gets planted in time, and my flowers will be breathtaking by some time in June.  And I will pretend that my summer will be an endless year-round mix of shorts and tank tops, iced tea, and unwinding at the end of the day in a porch rocking chair.

Today we played outside without coats.  Let the celebration begin….