I have been whingeing more than somewhat about the cold since we landed in NYC. As I type this it’s -9 (15.7F) outside and the winds are howling. Both of which strikes me as just plain wrong.
But rather than focuss on the utter misery and horror of it, I’m trying to think of some positives. Like, um, er, ah, um, . . . Okay, I got nothing. I can think of nothing good about weather this cold.
Can any of you help me? Do any of you like the cold? See something positive about it? Do please share. Because I haven’t left the flat since Friday and I’m kind of not planning to until we get to June and warmth.
Give me a reason to go outside. A good reason.
Lunch at Otto’s, now you’re back in town? 🙂 Email me if you’re free!
One of the most comforting feelings in the world is coming back inside from the cold. 🙂
no, sorry. i know i have no right to complain (-9!!) b/c it’s only been down to 30 here, but i have spent the better part of last week whingeing about my Martian roommates, who don’t believe in heaters and even had the cold air on. i ask you.
laurie halse anderson likes the cold. her website looks like a snow-covered forest floor.
what are you doing back in nyc anyway? i thought you were supposed to avoid winter.
it’s all a matter of taste, I’m afraid. I like being outside in the icy cold for short periods of time. it makes the inside so much better when you get back in. and winter food: hutspot, boerenkool, erwtensoep and especially hachee and mash, mmm.
I miss winter. we’ve had nothing at all of it here – no snow, hardly any frost. we went to the skating rink yesterday for a small taste of winteriness, together with half the population of utrecht, it seems. it was very crowded and so hot that we had to take off our coats.
we did see fantastic speed skaters on the open air track, though: the national junior championships were on. 14-year-olds skating 30 second rounds, whoooosh – very exciting up so close.
If you don’t go out, you’ll miss seeing the armored bears.
Let’s see, shivering, upper respiratory tract infections, dripping nose, numb fingers, unattractive pink cheeks. Nope, I got nothing. By the way, it’s 34C in Melbourne, I’m just ducking out for a dip in the pool.
cheers,
Cameron
No.
Having grown up somewhere that we routinely got into -40C during winter, I should probably be able to wax poetic about the cold…
I got nothing.
i actually do really like the cold. i was walking back from the swimming pool yesterday and my hair totally froze, it was exciting. don’t you like that crisp briskness and the feeling of adventure? summer’s what i’m not so crazy about, i find 90+-degree weather with high humidity pretty much unredeemable, but a sunny day with the weather in the teens always makes me cheerful… the magic of the frozen north!
Um, storage for large quantities of meat, in a manner that does not clutter up the freezer? Possibly not in a major city; it kind of requires a back yard.
This is the extent of my positive thinking about the cold.
I am so tired of the cold. This is the longest and most brutal cold snap I can remember in years. And I have to be out in it at least three times a day in order to care for my horses. I so can’t wait for summer to get here again. I miss my 100-degree days.
Hmm … -9. That really doesn’t seem very cold to me here in Canada. Today it’s -32 with the wind chill. Was up north (wa-ay north) last week and one good thing about the cold is how frosty beautiful it makes everything. And the sky is so clear. Early in the mornings the moon was on one side of the horizon and the sun was on the other. Really an amazing sight. I also went dogsledding out on a frozen lake. That experience was definitely a positive for cold. 🙂
I’m not a huge fan of the winter, either, but some things I do enjoy about it:
-the beauty of a tree-lined street or park after it snows
-getting warmed up with hot chocolate or tea or soup after being cold outside
-ice-skating
Hmmmm… Yeah, that’s all I’ve got. 😉
You could come outside to console me on my birthday!
cold weather is a great excuse to curl up by a fire (okay, space heater) with a good book. or a nice cup of hot chocolate. or a cute person.
otto’s delivers..
so does momofuku ssam, which is one of my new favorites. try the oxtail & beef stew, and if they have the brussel sprouts, GET THEM>
Breathe deep, because back here the weather is gorgeous and we’re *still* stuck indoors: you’re missing bushfire summer. See, if you go outdoors, you can gloat about air that doesn’t taste like vaguely eucalyptic soot.
As I suspected there is nothing good to be said about this level of cold. And no reason for me to go outside until June.
And as for the -9 not being cold because you are experiencing much worse cold. Please. If I complained to you lot about having my foot amputated, you’d be all, “But I’ve had both arms and a leg amputated.” To which I can only say, “My foot. It is gone.”
Gillian: Not in Sydney there isn’t. I was there all summer and there was no whiff of soot. Not that I don’t feel for you.
I like the cold (easy to say when it is a comfotable 25 degrees C though hey!)
But perhaps you need a new jacket or scarf?
Perhaps you might have to go outside and find one?
I got nothing Justine. Wearing a coat makes me all twitchy–I’m a child of california sunshine and I wants to be barefoot and warm! I’m thinking Mexico, and soonish–et tu?
Anon
In the winter you grow a thick coat of luuuusterous fur… And, pff, who doesn’t want that?
Peoples, I’ve got coats and scarves and gloves and hats up the wazzoo. It doesn’t make any difference; it’s still cold out there! And I am allergic.
Shelly Rae: Mexico would be lovely right now, but Sydney would be even better . . .
Katearte: I’ll leave the fur to you, darls. Though if it came with a prehensile tail I might be interested.
I love really cold weather. I love the taste of the cold air, crisp and dry. I love how, on a really bright day, its seems as if you are looking at the world through really fine crystal, everything sharp-edged and brittle. I love the feeling of the heat cycling off your skin when you are out exerting yourself and the slight burn you get in your lungs after a few moments of hard work. In the summer, the air is too wet, too heavy. It weighs you down. In the winter, it feels as if there is only a tenuous bit of the atmosphere left. You feel lighter, less restrained.
Man, I miss winter.
Justine, my apartment faces the Hudson River so I’ve learned how to protect
myself against the cold whether I’m inside or outside – wear layers of
clothes, get yourself a really good pair of gloves, cover your face outdoors,
and drink plenty of hot liquids. Just remember that it’s colder in Michigan
and upstate NY than in NYC and that the weather here is just a fluke.
regards, Lewis