Warm thoughts

It was a cold and sunny weekend, but today is cold with little, tiny snow flakes swirling around. These aren't the type of flakes that will stick and give us a white blanket on the land, more like the kind that seem to be thicker in the air than on the ground and only seen in the cracks of the bricks and in little triangles in corners. The cold is still one that gets into my bones and makes it hard for me to get outside and run, something I'm longing to do. However, I just don't have the insulation I need to keep warm for those critical first 5-10 minutes of the run until I work up enough steam to keep myself warm. So I lurk indoors, with blankets and wool clothing and scrunch up my face when I have to go outside.

I'm not complaining, just stating the facts. I really have nothing to complain about, Mike and I are both staying healthy, the cats, for all their advanced age, are still lunatics on a regular basis, we have a fairly snug home, and we also have the certain knowledge that the days are getting longer and summer is on its way. That last gives me great comfort and the extra push I need to get through cold spells. The cold makes summer so worthwhile and makes me at least wring every last ounce of warmth from it. I don't think I have complained about it being too hot in the summer for years, perhaps that's what living in areas with distinct seasons will do. Perhaps it's my metabolism changing as I get older. Whatever. I love heat.

I remember three years ago, we had a really unpleasant spring here. It was cold, rainy, windy, generally disagreeable. I ran into one of our neighbours, a Dutch man, and as is the norm in any conversation when living in the Netherlands, we discussed the weather. My neighbour was complaining about how cold it was and we both agreed that summer would be a welcome change. Sure enough, we had a beautiful summer (our last since that time), and went for 3-4 weeks without rain and some temps into the 90s F (30s C). I just was loving it, soaking it up, when I ran into my neighbour again. Formalities needing to be observed, we said 'hello' then talked weather. He complained about the heat, saying it was "Too hot". I looked at him in amazement, then said, "You better be careful, you'll jinx it!". I walked away from this conversation shaking my head; after all, we know that winter will come here, it's not like we live in a tropical area and the heat might not go away, it's a finite thing. A week or two later, the weather turned and August was cold - in the 60s F (teens C) and raining every day. When I saw him next, I simply gave my neighbour a significant look when he complained about the cold...he laughed and realized he'd been caught out!

My ways of coping involve warm food (tonight we'll have a pasta with ragu sauce that will have simmered most of the afternoon and which gives the house a homey smell), lots of tea, especially just before bed, warm light from candles, good music, cats draped on oneself, and whatever else it takes. After all, this is our life and if we whine about it too much, we will look back and realize we haven't made the most of what we had.