Winter Chillin’
Amazing feats of ice carving will be on display at Medina Square February 18 - 21, 2022.
So how’s your Winter going? To me, it seems like we’ve had snow on the ground forever…
Yet the meteorologist on Eight says we had snow on the ground longer last year. But hey, with all our dealings with Covid, I don’t remember.
After such a tropical December this year, this arctic freeze of January and February has been a bit of a shock. But as my dermatologist always says, a good long winter freeze reduces the ground bacteria and viruses for the coming Spring. If that’s true, we should be in for a super bug-free Spring!
In other news, what a Sports-tacular weekend we had! I just love the Olympics, especially the Winter version, and I do enjoy the Super Bowl with my wife’s homemade deer chili and cornbread. Hope all of you had a special evening with friends or family and your traditional tailgate specials. Yes, I would love to see the Browns in the Super Bowl but, anymore, I always hope for a good, high-scoring game with decent commercials.
The halftime show seems to be hit-or-miss each year. This year, depending on your age and musical persuasion, it was a little of both in my estimation. But then again, I’m a Prince, Def Leopard, Motley kind-of-guy.
There is something that I noticed this week in discussions with my patients on what they did (or didn’t do) over Super Bowl weekend. Let me expound a bit…
Chatting with my under-21 patient population, my discussions across three days involved roughly 105 patients. Maybe 15 of this group watched the Olympics and 20 the Super Bowl (and half of that group only watched the half-time show!).
Has Covid turned the next generation against watching the thrill of victory with the determination and intestinal fortitude of individuals pushing the human body to discover personal here-to-fore unknown limits?
Maybe against is too strong a word. A better way of saying it might be what a clinical psychologist would term as apathy or indifference to real-life human competition. This under-21 group has found interests elsewhere and I begin to see why — Hulu, Peacock, Netflix, and all these alternative television streaming channels are doing so well in today’s youth market.
When I grew up in Hinckley, all we could get on the TV was three, five, and eight; and only ‘til eleven or twelve o’clock. Then, a bizarre test pattern appeared ‘til the next morning. In my day, we waited for a year to see the Wizard of Oz, and six months to watch the Super Bowl. Now, if it takes more than four minutes to download a movie, my son is off to a different channel.
My concern is that this generation finds more intrigue and interest in animation and fictitious Superheroes than they do in real-life individuals pushing themselves to accomplish seemingly impossible superhuman feats of athleticism.
If you add in the Para-Olympics, you really get a taste of true human grit and a level of dedication few on the silver screen can match. Most of the Olympic athletes have stories of unbelievable training ethics and have learned to accept hardships and failure along their journey to achieve their impossible dream — attributes that this younger generation would do well to emulate!
Today’s world has definitely changed from the one I grew up in, with today’s youth facing more trials and tribulations than ever before. And I feel the need for well-grounded role models for today’s youth has never been greater. Watching my young family members, my young patients… all seem to have more difficulty setting their career compass than we ever did. Several of my 30-year-old son’s friends are already on their third career change!
The uncertain surroundings of today’s world have undermined, in my opinion, many of today’s youth’s confidence and trust in the Establishment and even to some degree in themselves!
I feel it is all of our responsibilities, as adults with careers (or retired), to mentor as many young people as one is able to in order to provide a clearer vision of the future and to help them discover and develop their special skill sets.
Being a parent has never been more difficult or more needed than it is today. Helping the younger generation to sort out truth from fiction (as they are bombarded by any one of a number of TV and social media propaganda outlets every minute of the day) is a daunting task for today’s parents.
My solution is not a guarantee or backed up by a lot of data, but I feel as an adult/parent today, we need to keep subjecting our children and those children around us, who trust us and will listen, to the good experiences life has to offer. We need to set good examples and show these children that the world isn’t full of hate and that there are lots of good people, doing good things, to make this a great world to live in! And we must keep repeating this every day, day in and day out, to counteract the Covid / political up-swelling of media trash.
In closing, I’d like to recommend a really cool event (pun intended) this weekend for the family.
And this is one of those good, positive experiences I’m talking about. This event in Medina was uniquely created by combining two molecules of Hydrogen with one molecule of Oxygen and then freezing it into a block. Then, using incredible human creativity and a large dose of artistic talent, 120 of these blocks of ice will be transformed into works of art and displayed around Medina’s Square.
Yes, I’m talking about this year’s 28th Annual Medina Ice Festival, which opens at 5pm this evening (Friday, February 18th), when over 120 sculptures will be put on display. Once the sculptures are placed, they will remain there for viewing (day and night) through Monday, February 21st.
Tonight, speed carving contests take place at 5:30, 6, and 6:30pm on Broadway Street in front of the County Courthouse. The ever-popular Fire and Ice Tower lighting will take place at 7pm (also on Broadway Street in front of the County Courthouse).
This event is free. And you won’t regret witnessing the skill and artistic talent needed to swing a chainsaw, push a chisel, and work a myriad of grinders to create works of beauty with H2O as a canvas. It’s nothing short of amazing, no matter your age.
The temperature should be perfect, no rain in sight, so bundle up the family and get out for a positive experience with positive people. Relax and enjoy your time together. Make lunch or dinner reservations early, bring a thermos of hot chocolate for the little ones, and, oh yes, cap off the evening with ice cream at Chill Artisan Ice Cream or frozen yogurt at Lemonberry (or, on your way home, swing by Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream).
Now that is the way we celebrate President’s Day Weekend in Medina!
Happy chillin’ Medina County,
Dr. P.