It's difficult to shop along Chicago's iconic State Street if you can’t walk down the sidewalk.
That’s why Nicholas Roja was busy Friday morning, removing Thursday’s snow to clear the way for last-minute holiday shoppers.
“It’s freezing,” he said as he chipped away the icy snow in front of the stores.
It’s hard work when the temperature is three degrees below zero, but Roja said he runs inside when he gets too cold, then comes out again to continue his chilly job.
Roja’s is one of hundreds of jobs in Chicago that must get done no matter what the temperature.
In Oak Park, firefighters were called to an apartment building blaze. The wind chill made it feel like 26 degrees below zero. The trees out front were encased in ice from the water used to dowse the flames. Steam could be seen rising from the firefighters as easily as smoke could be seen rising from the building.
Jorge Garcia is no stranger to cold mornings. As the owner of Dex’s Friends dog walking service, he too was up with the sun.
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“I dread days like this,” he said. “I would rather have it rainy and warm like in the 30’s, but this is brutal.”
Garcia, who was wearing a heated vest under multiple layers, said he must worry not only about his own safety during extreme weather, but that of his client’s dogs as well.
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“I have to have time to get them ready; get their coats and their boots on because even they feel it,” he said.
And in the last few days before Christmas, U.S. Postal Service workers everywhere were living up to the agency’s unofficial motto and were not letting extreme temperatures keep these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.
Julius Olmeda is a UPS driver, who recently made his rounds in the Fulton Market District. He stopped long enough to tell us that while it is “pretty cold,” it’s not so bad if you properly layer your clothing.
He said he keeps warmers in his pockets along with his handheld computer so that he can use them both at the same time.
“You know, we just keep it moving,” he said.
