It's eight. Eight! Degrees! And it's supposed to get colder. I guess this is the Michigan cold we managed to avoid last year during our trips to Argentina and Turkey. Even this afternoon, when it was a balmy 19, I went numb walking from the Y to our car a block away. My ears froze. My nose froze. My ears froze. I couldn't even feel my emotions. (Except self-pity...that one was clearly intact.)
Still, I'll take it. I'll take it over weeks of 100 degree summer weather with thick humidity. I'll accept that thermal underwear is a fact of daily dressing and that I need to wear thick sweaters even in the house. I'll accept that the tea kettle's working overtime and that everything sounds better in soup form. I'll accept that even the logs have to defrost before they'll light up in the fireplace.
Cold like this is the reason socks go on sale, the reason I stockpile wooly yarn from which to knit extra caps and scarves. It's the reason we subscribe to so many magazines to curl up and read, the reason they make so many flavors of herbal tea and the reason, thank God, that fleece was invented. It might even be the reason kitties were invented, so you could tuck your toes under them when they curl up at the bottom of your bed.
Just check with me again after Sunday, when we hit the negative digits without benefit of wind chill!