You can tell another speech season is upon us, as winter weather always hits with aplomb.

The Friday, Jan. 23, cold spell lived up to its name. With temperatures well in the negative 30s, schools cancelled or postponed and it was brutal to be outside.

Of course, speech contest the next morning was right on time, and I had to be up at 6 a.m. to drive to the event.

Let’s just say – that was a cold drive.

And the one-act play auditorium I was in most of the day was fine.

But that cold spell plagued the brakes of my car, I discovered on the way home with a spongy pedal. Over the next few days as temperatures slowly climbed, they didn’t do much better.

Which means Tippy-Toe, my car, was relegated to the garage until it could get to Bud’s for a check-up, and I’ve been hoofing it in the community the latter part of last week.

As I’ve joked with others – Winter’s an easier climate to dress for. You can always add more layers if you need them to be comfortable, and with a nice winter coat, walking in 10 degree temperatures is relatively okay. Sure, the face gets a little chapped and icicles form on facial hair when outdoors, but it could be worse.

The hills are still what are strenuous things to climb. I know Thursday night getting to the uptown was a 20 minute endeavor, and the hill by the Bijou as usual is one that makes me slow to a crawl.

A lot of work is going on behind the scenes, and today will be the Iowa Newspaper Association Better Newspaper Awards, where we will know how we fared.

All I know is I’m looking for the warm-up coming this week as well.