Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

There are two types of people in our country. And, no, they aren’t the Republicans and the Democrats or the red and blue states or even Northerners and Southerners. All those designations are potentially far too political; besides they don’t really cut to the heart of the matter.

Those who prefer hot weather and those who prefer cold weather are the two types I’m referring to. And while you might not get a straight answer if you asked someone about his or her politics, you definitely get the truth when you ask, “Do you like it hot or cold?”

There are reasons for choosing either side; I personally prefer cold weather and am concerned as I sit in my Michigan home enduring a summer heat wave that global warming is impacting cold weather dramatically. When was the last time the entire continental United States experienced a cold wave as extensive as the recent heat wave where the ONLY state in the lower forty-eight that the daytime temperature didn’t soar above ninety degrees was North Dakota? I don’t believe it’s ever happened before. Even Winnipeg, Ontario, Canada reported a scorching ninety-three degrees just yesterday.

I like cold weather because you can always wear enough clothing to be comfortable, even if you look like a polar bear in the process. You can wear a wooly cap, which helps retain your body’s heat; you can layer from the long underwear out. Of course you can remove your clothing in a heat wave, but there are certain restrictions that accompany shimmying out of everything. The local police don’t take kindly to nudists shopping in the mall, for instance.

But it isn’t only a matter of more or less clothing; I simply feel better in winter because the humidity is lower, the air is crisper, the bugs have disappeared, and so has the pollen. And while I love my flowers and my gardens, I’m always glad to rake the last fallen leaf and call the season quits. I’m also one of those crazy people who actually enjoys shoveling snow.

I doubt anybody truly relishes the extremes of either hot or cold — those one hundred degree days or those with the wind chill in double digits below zero — but I am equally certain that every single person has an answer to the question: Hot or Cold?