I have to admit, 9 degrees is cold. That's the temperature reported when I left the house this morning. The National Weather Service reported 6 degrees, but who lives out at the airport? The good thing is, the temperature is expected to rise into the lower 30s. That's why I fled Minnesota.
I remember a solid week where the mercury didn't get above zero for the high! When it finally broke into the plus column, it was among the lead stories on the local news. It used to get so cold that my breath would freeze on my moustache, making it painful to talk or smile. Once I got inside, it would start to defrost, leaving a puddle on my desk.
Once it started snowing, sometimes as early as September, you wouldn't see the bare ground until March -- then you wouldn't see the sun until the end of April. It was a miserable existence.
I knew of people who would only work from September or October until March. They would load up on car batteries and go around, offering, for a fee, to jump-start batteries that were too weak to overcome the frigid weather. These were wealthy folks who only needed to work for about six months a year.
I'm so glad to live in Amarillo now, "cold" or not.