Not all. When the temps drop to the 50 to 60 degree range, old Cajun will wear a t-shirt under his short sleeves. When the temps drop to 40 to 50 degree range I'll switch to flannel long sleeves. Only in the 20 to 40 degree range will I wear a jacket and find lots of reasons not to be outside for too long, especially if it's raining or worse.
I've never seen forty below. But I have seen thirty below on several occasions.
But I have never been so cold as the day I spent working the floor of a pecan orchard in Central Alabama with the temperature 35-38 above and a north wind blowing mist/drizzle/occasional snowflake.
I was fully and warmly dressed -- inside a pair of quilted coveralls. And, when I got home, I had to sit in front of the fire for two hours before my bones thawed out.
As they say, "It's the humidity..."
I lived in NOLA for 30 years and the sales on coats was fantastic. Every year I would purchase some of the best parkas, coats, leather, blazers, etc. b/c the sale prices would be so fantastic I couldn’t resist. I was able to buy a full lenghth leather coat for 75 percent off. I wore that coat, which I loved, about 3 times a year if I was lucky. Also, every year, I would donate coats to the Womens organizations who were protecting abuse women and children. We would also go to the Quarter and hand out coats and blankets since it does get pretty cold at night. In addition, we (just a bunch of friends) would also buy coats for kids that we could get for $5 to $15 dollars at nice department stores. We gave those away too.
I guess this can be summed up as vanity that resulted in helping those in a bad situation. It just felt good.
See my previous post.
“Southerners have a weak constitution regarding cold temperatures. I recall, when I lived in the south, seeing people wearing parkas when the mercury hit 60. I couldn’t help but wonder, why the heck would they even own parkas down there?”
I’m from Nashville and in the 50’s and 60’s it snowed quite a bit in the winter. The year I was born it snowed three feet and my Dad and his crew with the Nashville Electric Service had to sleep in the Nashville jail because they couldn’t get home. I’ve camped in the Smokies when it was -4.
When I moved to Colorado I went down to the local airport for a check ride when it was 95 degrees and the guys were sweltering. I wasn’t even breaking a sweat and was wondering what the deal was.
I guess it’s what you’re used to but people are wonderfully adaptable.
I still freeze my butt off here in the winter.
“Southerners have a weak constitution regarding cold temperatures. I recall, when I lived in the south, seeing people wearing parkas when the mercury hit 60.”
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What color were they? I have never seen white people wearing parkas in the South at 60 degrees. I see plenty walking around in tee shirts at that temperature. What are you calling a parka anyway, a simple hoody?
I’ll grant that we are a little cold sensitive, that comes from alternating between cold and hot. In the rare times that we have a long spell of colder weather people start wearing less clothing as their bodies adjust to the cold. I have spent long periods in colder climate including a whole year in Iceland and I noticed that it becomes much more tolerable when it doesn’t switch back and forth so much.
Yeah, well I’m about 30 miles from the Texas border, and I was outside wearing a shortsleeved shirt in the 40s. So how does your broad brush look now?