Did you see me yesterday?

If you did, you probably didn't recognize me. I was the one in the brown winter jacket zipped to the top with the top snap closed. I also had on a knitted cap and some cashmere-lined leather gloves, courtesy of my mother, who knows a bit about dressing for the cold.

She should. It was 26 degrees below zero in her hometown shortly before 2 a.m. Monday. We're not talking wind chill, just 26 below zero at the airport, according to the National Weather Service.

My mother does not live at the airport, of course. It was probably a balmy 21 below zero at her house. That's how it goes in Craig, Colo.

The bitter cold is Craig's claim to fame. Except for the time that a TWA pilot inadvertently landed a passenger jet at the tiny airport in Craig, most national news stories about Craig have to do with its frigid weather.

A few years ago, it was minus 51. The school district canceled school, which was remarkable. Growing up, we never got a "snow day" or a "cold day." We just put on our long underwear, our clothes, our outerwear and boots and went to school. For a couple of years during high school, I worked at a gas station. I can remember quite a few subfreezing and subzero days.

To say that I respect freezing temperatures is an understatement. I carry my snow boots in the car all winter, even though I live in a place that is not nearly as cold as Craig, nor gets as much snow.

But it doesn't take long for your body to lose heat. I know this because my Aunt Shirley died of exposure on a stormy night in Colorado Springs back in the 1980s.

When it gets cold, as it has this week (Monday was the coldest day of the year, thus far), I'm baffled by the attire I see some Utahns wear.

My 17-year-old has finally evolved to the point that she will wear a heavy winter coat. Hallelujah! She'll even wear gloves on occasion.

The 13-year-old argues that she only has to walk a block to school and her heavy hooded sweatshirt is warm enough.

Arg!

As I drove by her school on my way to work, I noticed quite a few junior-high age kids with the same mind-set. It's a wonder they survive puberty.

I have a couple of theories. Their brains are developing along with the rest of their bodies at that age. Perhaps there's so much energy devoted to that process that survival activities — wearing a coat, hat and gloves — cannot be contemplated.

Or perhaps they're just too lazy to put their coats in their lockers. Or their coats will mess up their look.

Who knows.

As I write this column, the snow is coming down hard. I was pleased to see that Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and first lady Mary Kaye Huntsman donned warm coats, gloves and scarves for the brief inauguration ceremony on the Capitol steps on Monday. Ditto for Associate Chief Justice Matt Durrant. Perhaps our teens will take a clue. Thanks for being good winter-attire role models.

If all else fails, I may send my kid on a field trip to my mother's house. She may develop a new appreciation for her parka, gloves and hat if pressed to shovel a foot of snow in subzero temperatures.

Must it come to that?

Marjorie Cortez, who doesn't mind the cold and snow because she's prepared for it (and thus looks like a bag lady half the winter), is a Deseret News editorial writer. E-mail her at Marjorie@desnews.com.