Too Cold

I'm sick of the cold. I'm ready to move somewhere warm - like Tahiti. Yes, it may be their rainy season right now, but at least their temperatures are in in the 70s and 80s, not the 0s or -0s like we've had here recently. (Yes, I realize that some of those who are reading this are experiencing colder temperatures than these, and all I can say is I'm sorry. This is plenty cold enough for me.)

Usually, Denver, Colorado isn't a bad place to live. We get seasons, which means a gorgeous autumn, a green summer, a wet spring, and snow in the winter. But usually the snow in the winter melts off really quickly. We can have six inches of snow and have it all melted off within three days. It doesn't usually stick around the entire winter, turning black and dirty on the sides of the roads. We don't have to keep chains on our tires from November to March. We have winter days that reach 60 degrees, and that feels warm!

And then we have weeks like this one, snowing every couple days before the layer before has had a chance to melt, and bitter, bitter cold. I wouldn't mind the cold so much if I didn't have to go out in it, but by the time I return home from walking the kids to school (about a 20-25 minute round trip) my extremities are tingling from my nose to my toes, and my scarf has a layer of frost on it from where the vapor from my breath has frozen. I generally keep my coat on for a while after I get home - until I'm not shivering any more.

This morning I was thinking about the pioneers in the Willie and Martin Handcart Companies, and how they were out in these kind of freezing temperatures, trudging through snow for hours on end, without thick, fuzzy socks and boots, perhaps without many layers of clothing, sweaters, coats, hats, mittens, and scarves. And they definitely didn't have a warm home with a heater waiting for them at the end of their day's journey, just a cold canvas tent and blankets and a campfire if they could get one going. Not only this, but they were hungry to the point of starving.

I am grateful that I have a warm home, with a working heater. I am grateful for a warm coat, and for the many hats and mittens and scarves floating around the house (many of which I've knitted) that we have to keep us warm when we are outdoors. I am grateful for an oven and stove and microwave with which I can heat water for hot chocolate or cook other warm foods to warm my belly. I am grateful for the pile of blankets on my bed that ensure that I sleep very warm at night, even if it does make it really hard to get up in the morning.

And I look forward to Spring.