When walking to school or home from school was always uphill

I did a little time traveling this morning after reading about the fearsome "polar vortex" and seeing some Snapchats from family in Seattle and Portland who are not used to snow (but they are getting some this weekend).

I traveled to the 1950s in Iowa City, when there were cold winters and hot summers and weeks at a time in January and February where the sun never quite broke through the overcast skies.

Homes were smaller and families were larger, on average, in those days, so kids staying indoors all day was not good for the kids or for the parents. Below zero? No problem.

My mom was a genius at bundling multiple children into their snow suits and mittens. Once fully wrapped up, only faces were visible. There were so many layers and the suits were so padded and stiff that kids tended to wobble around like penguins. But the chance to get out of the house was worth all the effort and minor discomforts.

I wonder if mom would have sent us out for an hour or two at a time during those below zero days if the local weather kept warning about the polar vortex. 

After all, the news DID frequently discuss the threat of nuclear war, and I spent some strange minutes hiding under my desk during fallout drills at Roosevelt Elementary. 

People weren't fearless then. They just didn't always have the frightening language to work with.