The wind is back. This happens every year, and I hate it more each time.

It starts in the Arctic. Over Canada, it picks up a few daggers and all the vitriol of a country with an inferiority complex. Heading through the Dakotas and upper Minnesota it gathers all the bleakness of the region.

By the time it reaches us, it has enough bitterness to suck the very will to live. Then it blows non-stop until April. It rattles the windows and blows open car doors right into the car in the next parking stall. It makes 30 degrees feel like five below. Icicles form horizontally. Any tan left over from summer pales instantly.

In a wind like this, no one lingers outside. Neighbors who usually chat just nod briefly while rushing to collect their mail. Friendly midwesterners... aren't anymore. They will fight you for the closest parking spot or the seat farthest from the open door. This wind is the reason Packer fans are rabid.

I wish I could do a happy "Welcome Winter" post, but around here, winter is more like Cousin Eddie who shows up uninvited and stays way too long. "Surprised? I couldn't be more surprised if I woke up with my head sewn to the carpet."