Fair enough.
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I grew up in Illinois, though, so I at least used to.
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I grew up with snowy winters, and I've walked a couple of miles to school when it was -20°F (-29°C).
The reason that I mentioned the tree is that things here aren't used to it being so cold. We normally get about one hard freeze a year here, if that, so having six nights in a row of it can really take it's toll on the environment. Two years ago, I think that the cold region was much larger, and that's why the gas company diverted gas to other regions and then ran into trouble here.