The news on the cover of today's local paper was bleak. Below the fold but still very much on my radar, I learned that we can expect a "colder-than-average winter this year, with an increased chance of snow." Being that cold and snow are the very things I hate most about this tiny section of the USA, I sense that I am on the cusp of four long, dark months in New England.
Not the least of my problems with the extreme season is the idea that any barrier between myself and hypothermia cannot be taken for granted. It is not a baseless fear, this image I have in my mind of getting stranded in my temperamental car in -10 degree Fahrenheit weather on the side of a rural road with no cell reception for miles. Winter is a certain kind of helplessness. I've only experienced it a few times, but there is pain that would have you believe cold can crush bone into fragments.
It is no coincidence that my husband's grandmother, though she took 97 years to die, did it during the record breaking cold snap of 2004. It shouldn't have mattered, being that she was untouched by the elements in the toasty in-law apartment of her son's home, but she hated winter, too. On the other side of an ice webbed window, winter sucked the marrow from her bones.
Monday, November 27, 2006
A Winter Warning
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10 comments:
wow. i get visions of barren snow covered trees and long deserted highways.
and now, even though i am inside, i feel a bit cold. vividly done.
I so hate the cold and apparently we are really gonna get cold this winter even in the cozy warmth of the south. Our cold probably isn't the same as your cold but it is what you are accustom to that makes it seem worse. Try to enjoy the winter...I hate it!
Oof. I was just about to post "the brighter side of winter" when I got to your final sentence. Intense.
Are the people in the newpaper nuts? I mean, maybe this winter will be cold, but it's nearly december and we could probably go outside and suntan in our bathing suits.
Just a few hours ago my husband asked me what I thought this winter was going to be like. Without any outside (newspapers) help I told him it was going to be cold and very snowy. I rule!
That kinda sucks, though, doesn't it? I'll send you smoke signals from my igloo.
that's why i live in Ft. Lauderdale. :) you are welcome to come visit any time!
Wow, Binky. First blog I've read today and you've sucked the winter-loving life out of me.
Now I'm scared to go brave the roads, fearful that I may get stuck out in my rural area with no one to hear my chattering teeth, and my cellphone useless to me....
Aw, screw it. I love the snow. And I always carry snow boots and a blanket in the car, and no matter what - someone always knows to come looking for me if I haven't made it home by a certain time.
Because, five years ago, in the dead of winter my car did die on me, with no cell phone and I sat there and wondered if I would be discovered before I became a human popsicle.
Still, think of the snow, the fun, the hot cups of cocoa...
Reminds me of the fact that as we get older, we hate winter more and more.
I loved this. I saw New England in the dead of winter in my mind's eye. I saw you and the boss, tiny, as you sped through the empty back lanes against the backdrop of farms.
Lovely.
I remember that cold snap of 2004.. I had left my husband home and gone on a cruise with my best girlfriend. I still hear about that to this day!!
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