If you spend mere seconds outside of your warm home or office, you realize the temperature has taken a downward turn. In fact, it’s cold enough for us to curse ourselves for ever complaining about the 90 degree days of July.

Wouldn’t that feel good about right now?

The current cold weather is nothing new and it just so happens to come around every year about this time. It’s January, and it is supposed to be cold.

But, with that realization that it is cold and these frigid temperatures will remain in place for the coming days and weeks, it is crucial that we turn our attention to taking care of those things and people in our life that are threatened by this cold weather.

Some of those who are threatened in these cold temperatures are the very old and very young among us.

From the children who stand out in 20-degree weather waiting for the bus each morning to the homebound who may have lost the heat in their home, the cold weather can cause illness and even death.

“Kids get outside and start playing, and it’s hard to get them back in,” Captain Jim Judkins with the Suffolk Fire Department said. “They lose track of how cold it is. Their little noses and toes get cold and they can frostbite without even realizing it.”

The cold weather brings about many challenges not only to us indivudally, but also our homes and our pets.

This cold weather should be a reminder to each of us that we must better prepare ourselves and our homes before such weather hits. We should also work to prepare our neighbors and their homes.

Some area homes are seriously lacking when it comes to being prepared for winter weather, and it is those residents whom we must check on from time to time.

When it comes to cold weather, no one should have to suffer through cold nights without heat, facing the possibility of illness or death due to exposure.

With such good forecasting today – and even a helpful hit from the most recent Farmer’s Almanac – we should never be surprised and always be prepared.