Frazz by Jef Mallett for January 19, 2018

I’ll side with Mrs Olsen on this one.

Jeff’s timing with this one is perfect as it did get back up to 28F today.

How great it feels when you finally stop?

20°C (68°F) may feel tropic to you but it’s a bit chilly to me

We’ve been joking about that for years. After some really brutal Michigan winters, when it gets into the high 20s, heatwave!, we don’t bother to zip up our coats when we’re just going to get in the car.

My son was just home for Christmas, from school on Lake Superior. When I saw him going out in shorts, I started to nag at him to put some long pants on, for crying out loud!, then I remembered, it’s all relative.

(But I still argued that he should at least have long pants in the car, just in case.) (I swear, that kid is part Viking!)

In high school, in Wisconsin, in the pre-mini-skirt days of penny loafers and dinosaurs,

we girls had unwritten rules to follow, even when the snow was deep and the temps below zero….

Knee socks, winter jackets, and gloves were acceptable, and a mohair scarf, temporarily wrapped over your ears….

but no tights, snow boots, earmuffs or mittens.

Better to risk frostbite than looking like a dork.

(Actually, I don’t think we said “dork” yet but I don’t remember what we did call it….

and even though I pretty much was one anyway, I wouldn’t have ignored the “rules.”)

The minute the temperature rose to a balmy 33° F, off came the jackets, scarves and gloves,

and with whoops of joy, and proclamations of Spring…

we ate our lunch on the school staircase, in short sleeves, to soak up the warm sun.

even knowing another cold spell was the horizon.

Now I’m a Californian of many years standing…

28°F at 2am and 50 at noon qualifies as Arctic chill….

and causes the local population to huddle indoors, and go out to do their grocery shopping in down jackets.

Down Under – it’s summer – 20degrees celsius for minimums (or higher). And in the 40s during the day… I miss the Scottish winters – NOT!

Frazz speaks in Fahrenheit, in case anybody wondered

You know it’s been cold when it’s 28 degrees, and the birds are chirping.

Why is the last line NOT all upper case? Is the word “by” special?

Why is the last line NOT all upper case? Is the word “by” special?

Actually you would smack yourself on the noggin with a 1.5 by 3.5 .

Old Joke

A man comes upon another man who is repeatedly hitting his thumb with a hammer. When asked why he’s beating his thumb to a pulp, the man with the hammer replies, “Because it feels so good when I stop!”

We always say you know you are a Canadian when -4c seems warm.

We always say you know you are a Canadian when -4c seems warm.

Did anyone else notice the hand lettering of the 20 and the 2×4? I wonder what it was originally? It’s the same way in the newspaper edition!?

Frazz was absolutely perfect today. Never have laughed so hard over breakfast.

Frazz was absolutely perfect today. Never have laughed so hard over breakfast.

I remember my first week of boot camp (Great Lakes in January). It got above zero(F) for one hour; it was 20 below when we went to breakfast. The winter haircut was 1/4".

A few mentioned it, but I will too…. the “by” in 2 by 4 looks ODD because it is lower case, compared to Jef’s normally all upper case lettering. I wonder why he chose that…. accidentally or purposefully? I also wonder why he did not say “2 X 4” which is also commonly used to denote that lumber size?

I agree with both Frazz (the almost “tropical” feel of 20 after a deeper freeze) and Mrs. Olsen (the 2 X 4) analogy. Wonderful comic today, Jef!!!!

“The night was warm – only 30 below.” – Jack London, Burning Daylight

Frazz20 hrs ·

There’s a line in one of my favorite books where a character opines that the one good thing to be said about old age is that “it don’t last long.” This in a book — No Country for Old Men — where a shocking number of characters aren’t making it anywhere close to old age.

You could probably say the same thing about weather in Michigan. Or, if not in Michigan, anywhere. Whatever it does, it don’t last long. But it sure can feel like forever at the time.

Frazz by Jef Mallett for Jan 19, 2018 | GoComics.com