We’ve never understood why fairly typical Iowa winter weather evokes such strong negative reactions among Iowans. It isn’t as if history hasn’t offered a full disclosure, rewritten though it may be to prove we’re a winter-hardy variety of people. To set the record straight, it’s technically not true that it “always” snows during the girls’ state high school basketball tournament, which takes place downtown this week. The truth is that there hasn’t been a blizzard more often than there has, so maybe our absolute statements are just wishful thinking that occasionally has been rewarded. And perhaps the grousing and – let’s be honest – whining about winter stems from the fact that we celebrated the winter solstice in shirtsleeves, making the raw elements of late cruel retribution.

Why Iowans profess surprise and loathing for heavy snow, blizzards, high winds, ice storms and the generally blustery nature of the season is one of life’s most flummoxing mysteries. It’s not as if winter snuck up on them through South Dakota’s back door. Unless you’re a naïve newcomer who came here for the potatoes, winter shouldn’t leave you thunderstruck. Winter happens in Iowa, often in a big way, and no amount of grumbling will alter that.

We’ll just say this: If your home didn’t lose power for more than a few hours in winter’s late-season siege and your health and safety weren’t otherwise compromised, you have no reason to complain.

Or maybe you do. It’s a matter of perception. Approached correctly, storms like the ones that recently left many Iowans without access to various multimedia contraptions and other electricity-dependent gadgets – the horror! – are an adventure, the modern-day equivalent of trudging nearly shoeless through a foot of snow to and from school each day.

From these snowbound days and natural disasters in general, we always emerge feeling a little better about each other and finding a few heroes in our midst. And the moisture the storms have brought is good for Iowa’s potato crop.