By Braden Murray | LTVN Anchor/Reporter
I have lived in Texas my whole life — the Houston area, to be exact. So, I am not only used to extreme heat but also used to extreme humidity.
I’ve experienced football practice in full pads while temperatures are in the high 90s. My middle school had a turf field, so that added at least 10 degrees to the heat. I’ve also experienced soccer seasons where we played in sleet and freezing rain. One of those years, I caught a really bad cold from sitting on the metal bench for an entire game. That game must have sparked something in me because for the next two seasons of my soccer career, I never sat on the bench again.
If there is anything I’ve learned over my 18 years of life, it’s that being hot is better than being cold — that is, unless you are trying to sleep, in which case cold is always better.
I must define what exactly cold is, to me at least. In my opinion, anything below 60 is cold, especially if it’s windy. Even 64 to 78 degrees is perfect, not too hot and not too cold. However, I think my disdain for the cold comes from my lack of exposure and lack of proper cold weather attire.
My opinion was justified by the winter storm that hit Texas in February. The storm caused the state power grid to shut down and left millions without power for days. It even caused some families’ water pipes to burst, leaving them without water and with expensive repairs.
If you are overcome by the heat or the cold, it’s a lot easier to cool down than it is to heat up, especially if you drive an older car with a weak heater. I lost count of the number of times I drove to school in a car that had to have been under 50 degrees.
However, the cold is good in short increments. For example, I went to Colorado for Christmas break last year, and it was great. I had proper gear, and we were only there for a week. I enjoy a nice cold front, but after four to five days of weather under 50 degrees, I’m ready for it to be over.
Hot weather is the signifier of summer and bright cloudless days, which is when most of my favorite childhood memories took place. I also love going to the community pool and swimming to my heart’s content. This is something you can do in hot weather but not cold weather. In the cold, you get to use the hot tub, which is also nice, but it’s not the same.
I admit, there are some days when the heat is even too much for me, but the cold is nearly always too much for me.
