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"I’m a warm-weather-wussy, so there is little risk of seeing me there."

I would be happy to see you here. We have a good natured acquaintance, who had the same MOS as me. Boating in the ocean again looks exceedingly tempting, BTW. ...loved growing up for twelve years in a tropical place except for the crazy wet bulb (heat & humidity) and crowds. ;-)

We saw many of the other kind of people the last two summers (but not this summer): untrained, proud, introverted, couch potato, suburban folks coming all the way from the City (~ 100 miles) to dry run with their RVs in campgrounds and on vacant parcels only during summer. If they attempted to winter, they would be more potential bodies to surface during the seasonal runoff (thaw). Thank goodness, fuel prices slowed that suicidal traffic down to a tiny bit. ...only one of 'em out there now, a few miles away.

Our friends are humble and open about themselves in person. They're common, hard working and technically inclined. We avoid getting too familiar with the first-name-basis-only people, the officious, and the edgy: those who will be sliding back down to the cities--most of them--as the default process continues (energy, food, lack of revenues, lack of jobs, probably colder climate here in two or three years, etc.).

I’m a warm-weather-wussy, so there is little risk of seeing me there.

Ha! I hear you yet here I am in the foothills of the Rockies, where I was born.

It is interesting to see "urbanites" during cold weather. They wear shorts and a light jacket because they don't intend to be out long, just short trips from their section eight housing and the public bus or choo-choo. They will freeze in the dark in short order if things go bad in the winter. They sure have no experience exerting themselves (clearing snow, splitting wood) with 20 degree air stinging their lungs. We have often been perfectly comfortable above 8500 feet in elk camp in a 1946 army wall tent for two weeks that never got above 15-20 degrees. But chores do need to be done, vehicles maintained...