Frozen to the bone

When I was a teenager I decided I would hate the winter. The reasoning behind it was pretty sparse as are most teenage beliefs; at least in my experience. But I think it was an aversion to being cold, this was made more present by a lack of common sense on my part and being generally poor all the time. I never wore proper foot gear, my coat was not designed to withstand negative temperatures and I was just not taking the measures I needed to be warm. So I equated winter with being cold and that distaste carried well into my 30’s. It wasn’t until I was in my 40’s that I realized I loved the snow again, the quiet, the lack of sound when the world is covered in a thick blanket. That was also around the time I got my first good pair of boots and a decent coat. Suddenly I loved being outdoors in the snow again, especially going for a walk with my best friend Shadow in the worst possible storms. He loved it as well, just the two of us trekking through the frozen world. We would come home covered in snow, often soaked and cold but happy to have had the exercise and shared experience. I still love going for walks outside in the snow, I miss Shadow by my side most of all during those moments. But I still love the winter. What I do not like is being cold. Especially when there is no good reason for it. Give me a high 20’s, low 30’s with 8 feet of snow and I am happy. When I wake up and its -12 with the wind I would rather just stay in bed until spring. I don’t have a particular point of anecdote or life lesson to impart here, just that I would very much like it to be warm enough that it didn’t feel like the air was trying to kill me. I don’t think Lu is old enough to have found his angst yet so he and Dag are loving the winter as they do all seasons. I should take lessons from them…