I lived in Chicago for 40 years, so I qualify. I found a lot of things to do. We were young though. You know how YOUNG people are. They want to go out and explore. And we had alcoholic fortification to boost the ability to navigate the below zero factor of Chicago.
If I lived in Chicago right now? I would indoor garden and have grow lights and stuff. Because I would have time. I couldn't go outside. So that would be a good hobby rather than eat myself to death by baking things I would normally do as a winter shut in. I like the smell and warmth of baking food and I would bring it to my relatives. Who are all dead now OR else who I loathe. Weird how time changes things. Weird.
If you shovel the yard....we do not. We walk through the snow tp the truck/van and then drive through the snow to the road. Our snow does not stay that long. Maybe a week.
It helps kill off some of spiders that aren't native to this area like the Recluse. During dry cold days I take the tarps off my firewood piles to kill the ones hiding under the tarp and cut down on the chances of bringing them into the house. Cheers!
Something good about enduring the cold? Well, for me, I'd say it's been keeping my immune system strong enough to keep serious illness at bay. I've been prone to illness since I was very young & it has only got worse as I got older. I'm unable to get vaccinated for illnesses, as I had a bad reaction to the MMR vaccine when I was 14 & was told the next one could kill me. So, I do tend to catch colds/flus a lot (though I always have anyway), but I've noticed that it has never advanced to more serious conditions such as pneumonia or other infections. It could be because (when I'm alone in my own room) I choose to wear a light vest top & shorts, whilst cooling my exposed skin with a water spray bottle, cooling gel packs & electric bedroom fan. I've also been losing a lot of muscle & fat all over my body this past year alone, so I don't retain much heat. My mum worries that I'll get hypothermia, but I almost always feel comfortable with these temperatures, even with the weather getting cooler. I do cover up sometimes with a blanket (more to please my mum), but I usually just end up kicking it off again. I also let my mum do hot water bottles for me, as well as giving me a medium-sized electric heating pad she'd been using for herself, so it's not like I'm going to freeze to death. My daily "rituals" have definitely ensured my immunity to cold temperatures, though. Anyone else surely would've been nursing a case of double-pneumonia by now, or possibly could've died from the inability to adjust to low temperatures (aka "exposure" or hypothermia). Perhaps it has something to do with human evolution?? LOL, I don't know... XD
This post was edited by AspieGirl88 at November 16, 2019 7:52 AM MST
Others have already mentioned some of my ideas, and anything else I might think of would pale in any interest/importance in comparison to AspieGirl88's answer.
That hurts. Just because I refuse to leave Southern California and travel to the Wisconsin/Minnesota area in the middle of winter doesn’t make me riff-raff! Grrrrrrr.
The only good thing about the cold is being warm in it or drunk into it. At least the drunk thing at first. It's a great sensation all it's own.
This post was edited by CosmicWunderkind at November 16, 2019 7:41 AM MST
Zack 