Savage Words: After a walk in Aspen Park, I’m convinced something’s up

This column is going to come out on probably the worst day, considering its subject matter.

The forecast high temp for today, Wednesday, Dec. 8, is 15 degrees. That, obviously, is an attention-getter when a swift, brisk gust of January South Dakota air cruises up the back of your coat.

But two weeks ago, on Dec. 29, I took a walk through Aspen Park. I had on jeans and a sweatshirt, and clearly, I wasn’t alone.

The temp peaked at 55 degrees that day. As I walked by the Remote Control race track just south of First National Bank Field, there were six people racing their cars, a couple of them in shorts and a t-shirt. It was 55.

But again, me and the half-dozen remote control racers weren’t alone. A few moments later as I made my way north, there were two dads and four kiddos playing touch football on one of the baseball fields. A couple of them were in shorts and t-shirts as well. It was 55.

After my walk, I got in my car to leave. As I was exiting Nicholas Avenue onto Aspen Boulevard, a dude drove by me with his convertible top down. His radio was blaring, and he looked to be having a flat-out spectacular day. Windows down, roof down, radio cranked. It was 55.

I don’t know if Global Warming is real. I know many of you don’t. Others are convinced it’s a massive problem. I truly don’t know. But it does seem like something is indeed up. When it’s 55 degrees outside on Dec. 29, and people in South Dakota are running around in shorts and t-shirts, something’s up.

I truly wish Global Warming wasn’t such a political issue. But it is.

I used to live in Seattle. If you’ve ever been there or spent some significant time there, you know how serious they take the issue. Seattle is arguably the most liberal city in the United States. Many, many of my co-workers and friends were convinced the world was going to end in the next 15 years because of Global Warming. And I’m serious about that. They were convinced.

My last year in Seattle was 2008. Needless to say, we’re all still here.

But how people think in Seattle is an exception. It’s extreme out there. It’s beautiful, but the thinking is extreme.

I left Seattle and moved to Oklahoma City. Those two cities couldn’t be further apart in terms of aesthetics or political viewpoints. When some of us in our company made the move from Seattle to Oklahoma and the issue of Global Warming came up, the locals in OKC scoffed at us.

So here I am, back in my home state of South Dakota. I know some people who are adamant that Global Warming is a hoax. I know others who are as convinced as my friends in Seattle that Global Warming will soon be the end for all of us.

I don’t know about either of those outlooks. But it seems pretty obvious to me, something is up.

When I was a little kid growing up on the extreme east side of Sioux Falls, my Christmas break was always filled with snowball fights, igloo building, downhill sledding, and ice skating at area rinks.

Running around in shorts and a t-shirt was never even considered.

I often hear the term “wintry mix.” A couple of basketball games in eastern South Dakota were canceled two weeks ago because of a potential wintry mix. A wintery mix is precipitation consisting of rain, freezing rain, sleet, or snow.

Maybe I’m wrong here – and that could very well be the case – but I just don’t remember the term wintry mix when I was a kid during Christmas break.

Wintry mix?!

It freaking snowed 40 years ago between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

After my walk at Aspen Park, I sat down to write at a coffee shop back in Sioux Falls. As I peered out the big windows, a group of six USF cross country runners went by in purple shorts and t-shirts. Just four days after Santa tried to land his crate on supposed snowy rooftops around town, the Cougars were getting some miles in as if it were May.

Indeed, something’s up.