How cold is it?

I have a new job.

Director of Marketing of the Walls Brands Group now owned by Williamson-Dickie Mfg. Co.

We make insulated workwear and hunting clothing.  The stuff you wear when it's cold and you work outdoors or go hunting and fishing in the cold.

I've been to Madison, Wisconsin twice in the past month.  Once, it was -11, and on the second trip it was -22.

It hurt to breathe.

We visited stores of a customer of ours, Blain's Farm and Fleet. 

On the most recent visit, we toured several stores and noticed that ice fishing huts were seriously marked down.

Having grown up in the South, ice fishing is one of those things I've been amazed by and always wanted to try.  We're used to cane poles and mosquitoes and bream.  Drilling a hole in the ice seems so otherworldy.  And a really cold winter, I assumed, would be the pinnacle for the sport.

So I asked the store manager why the ice fishing huts were marked down.

I assumed, wrongly, that it was late in the season.

"Oh, it's been an awful ice fishing season.  It's been too cold to ice fish", was the response of the manager.

That's how cold it's been.

It's friggin cold across North America.

No snow in Atlanta or ice in Dallas can explain the cold that Wisconsin, Michigan, Canada, etc. has experienced this year.

I'm sure Al Gore and company have an explanation.  But I believe their PowerPoint is wrong.

The good folks in the Northern climes of the U.S. have experienced a record cold.  As have the folks in almost every state.

And, it's not over yet.

Indications are that winter will continue to be on us in a serious way for at least another two months.

Somethings happening here.  And, what is is, ain't exactly clear.

But it ain't global warming.

And for those of us in Southern climes, we need to learn from our Northern neighbors.  Life goes on unabated for them.  They are prepared.  The airports are open and on time.  The highways are cleared and safe.  City sidewalks are clear.

The Ice Age might well be upon us.

Buckle up.