Cold weather�blues or bliss?
November 10, 2001 ~ 10:14 a.m.
I woke up around 4 in the morning today and poked my head out the kitchen window. My breath immediately fogged in the air and I could feel my face getting cold within seconds. Yet, it wasn't horrible.
I was dreading winter and the cold. Having gotten used to the summer, I was not looking forward to saying farewell to sunbathing, swimming, lush grassy lawns, the pleasant buzz of an electric fan, and all the other niceties of summer. I thought "how am I going to deal with life once the temperature dips below 50?"
Well, it's done that and I am not suffering. I had to wear a woolen hat for the first time this season during my run the other night, as it was quite cold and windy, but I ran fast and easy. I can still open the windows and enjoy the air without instantly shivering. I can watch the forecast without shuddering.
It's late autumn, going on winter�it's supposed to be cold. I can't logically fear it. I've never lived in the tropics. Cold winters have been a part of my life, all my life.
I still love the warm weather and prefer it. I get plagued by intense jealousy whenever I look at the weather back home and see that they are still having days in the 70s (the American East Coast has had an unusually warm autumn this year). Strong sunshine and balmy breezes are perfection to me.
However, I'll say this: When it's nippy, you can breathe easier. Cold air is fresher and more oxygen-rich. The only time you wouldn't want to take a deep breath in chilly weather is (a) when it's snowing and you accidentally suck snowflakes into your throat, and (b) when you've just eaten a menthol cough drop. Seriously, has anyone ever tried that? That must be what suffocation is like.
As long as the cold weather is confined to the months of November to February, I do not mind. By March, I look forward to the mercury rising again on a regular basis, and am thoroughly frustrated when it doesn't.
But it is only November. And we still have three months of winter to get through. I'd better make friends with the cold again. At least, I am at peace with it.
� M.E.M.
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Copyright � 2001-2007 by M.E. Manning. All material is written by me, unless explicitly stated otherwise by use of footnotes or bylines. Do not copy or redistribute without my permission.
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