Brrrrrr!

I  know I'm not going to impress anybody north of Florida--but it's cold here!  Water rarely spontaneously hardens here.

It was 22 degrees (wind chill 15) when I went out to feed the critters this morning--taking jugs of warm water and having to break that mysteriously hardened stuff out of their bowls.  The peacocks, unfortunately, are on their own--we wouldn't even be able to talk them into the barn.  All of the penned critters have heat lambs, and Timmy the Squirrel has been brought inside.   I got everyone fed, and all the dripping faucets turned off, and was going to hurry to get back inside--when I decided to just take a walk and enjoy the strange sensation of being . . . warm.

"Warm" is an emotional connotation as well as a temperature.  We do plenty of "hot" around here.  We do unbearable hot, really hot, just plain hot, and sometimes "comfortable."   But to have the sensation of warmth, you really need some cold.  Think about it--snuggly sweatshirts, wooly socks, mugs of hot cocoa, sitting in front of a fire.  All of this just doesn't work if there's not some cold around.

So I took a walk (short one--have to get to work sometime).  Cold air on my face--it has a strange brittle quality when you breath it.   Dry air--not used to that either.  All of the humidity turned to frost and sat on the ground.  Somehow, when it's cold, your inner thermostat kicks on.  It's not at all the same as being "chilled."  I get miserably chilled  when it's in the mid to high 40's--maybe it's because the humidity is still in the air instead of on the ground, but it just soaks into your bones (and if you bundle up, you sweat because it's not that cold).

It feels wonderful.  Pity that we just came off Christmas break so I really can't skip work just to enjoy it.   I know that if I lived anywhere north of here the novelty would soon wear off (just as Northerners visiting here are briefly fascinated by the fact that the thermometer needs three digits but quickly learn to head for the air conditioning).

My sympathies for those who have to endure this for weeks on end--but I'm off to find my alpaca socks, and my scarves, and some hot tea . . .warmth!