Mankato Free Press

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency

Odds are that this week you’ve heard somebody say this (or said it yourself): Why do we live here?

Strange, isn’t it, that we don’t hear that query nearly as often in July as in January.

This week’s weather, while not as severe as last winter’s “polar vortex,” does stretch our patience and stress our optimism. Sub-zero temperatures and white-outs on the highways don’t demand respect so much as extort it.

Winter unifies Minnesotans. We all have to deal with it, and we don another layer and go about our daily lives, even with a grumble or two.

Winter prompts us to care for those around us. The guy with the snowblower clears the sidewalk for the elderly couple down the block; the passersby push a car that has gotten stuck in the snow. Winter helps fuel Minnesota Nice. It reminds us that we need each other. Summer, pleasant as it is, doesn’t do that.

And, yeah, every once in a while some of us flee to someplace warm and sunny. That’s OK too.

At the end of it all, we know that winter is a temporary condition, as is life itself. If nothing else, the Legislature is back in session, and the resulting hot air should start warming things up.