I'm not cold. You're cold.

I will admit, I was not ready for my first few experiences of -40 wind chills when I moved here in 2012.

The weather in the Chicagoland area is similar; meaning cold, but I don’t remember the weather being under -10 degrees. As a kid, I remember it being so cold that it hurt to run. I remember salted streets. I remember snowball fights, snowmen, and the occasional sled or two, but what I don’t remember is it being so cold that we couldn’t go outside for recess.

Moving here has been an adjustment. The threat of my car not starting, and also the squeaking my car makes when it does start. I never...