The Shock of Winter

Winter is cold. Let’s talk about the cold again and again. Ten degrees, 4 degrees, zero and below. Let’s comment on winter. And snow. It’s still coming down. It’s melting fast. Three inches, seven inches, 14 inches in an hour. Let’s forget that this conversation has been going on for a thousand or 10,000 years and we’re still goddamned astounded when it snows and the temperature drops and we have to light a fire or turn up the heat or close the windows. Millennia of surprised reactions to the perfectly predictable constantly changing seasons. Some are drier than others, sometimes it gets colder and windier and the snow is slightly deeper and there are icicles and frozen birdbaths, chapped lips and cold feet and you can see your breath. Someone will get hurt skiing, someone else will complain about shoveling snow. Cars won’t start. Visibility will be reduced.

We’re amazed by winter. We are shocked and baffled by the onset.

In six months it’s going to be warming up and we’ll have a whole new list of complaints and comments. About summer and the heat.

Now, it’s winter. Just like last year. And the 10,000 previous years.

Put on a sweater.