In the mornings, I pad around the house in thick wool socks. Shoes make my aching feet hurt all the more, the cold playing havoc with my arthritic joints. Flannel pants keep my legs warm long enough to make it to the living room couch where fleece blankets wait for me to wrap around my freezing extremities.
A thick hooded sweatshirt, the sleeves long enough to pull over my blue-tipped fingers, covers an oversized thermal shirt, tucked snuggly into my pajama pants. The hood is up, keeping my exposed ears from the sharp winter winds.
My family taunts me for my excessive bundling. My husband, dressed only in basketball shorts and a tee, reclines in his favorite chair in front of the television. No shoes, no socks, his only concession to the cold weather is a ball hat sitting cavalierly on his shorn head. I quail at his hearty constitution, wary that it doesn’t bode well for my hibernation comfort.
He asks if I turned off my heated mattress pad. The beloved electronic marvel a consolation for bowing to his demands to leave the ceiling fans running, circulating icy air through an already frigid domicile. I’m loathed to do so, knowing I’ll have to wait for my bed to warm up to a toasty degree later that night.
A shrill whistle alerts me that my hot cuppa is ready. I plead with my unaffected child to fetch me my heated mug, longing for the ambient warmth to thaw my numb hands.
It’s January, the dead of winter. Brilliant blue sky belie the falling temperatures. White, feathery cirrus clouds brimming with ice crystals, scud across the horizon, chilling me to the bone.
Needing yet another blanket, I shuffle my way back to my room. Still cocooned in fleece, I pass the dreaded thermostat in the hallway. Tapping on the casing, I notice the internal temperature. Turning to see if I’m being watched, I reset the code ~ 66° Fahrenheit is far too nippy for my blood. It’s almost that cold outside.
For Story Dam, an online writing community offering weekly and monthly writing prompts. This week’s theme is: Dead of winter
I live on the Gulf Coast of Northwest Florida. Winter here lasts, at most, six weeks. By mid-February the risk of ground frost is over and Spring planting begins. In the 15+ years I’ve lived here I’ve never seen it snow ~ it did hail one Christmas ~ and there is hardly ever a frost that lasts past sunup. I think it’s cold if the temperatures dip below 60º. When it comes to cold weather, I am a total wimp.
The photo, taken at a local beach, shows just how white the sand here really is. If you didn’t know better, it could easily be mistaken for snow.
Thin spiral notebook 
I laughed SO HARD. My husband and I used to get to my Mother-In-Law’s house and quietly turn up the thermostat. (Seriously – she’d set it at 55 degrees when it was in the teens outside). Now? We keep turning ours down. Living down south has made us somehow more tolerant of mild cold. Our kids, though, have turned into a couple of hothouse flowers. They FREEZE, and genuinely freeze, not just whiny-Mom-I’m-chilly-freeze if they have to go outside in sixty degree weather without coats.
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I had to start a Fahrenheit to Celsius converter and thought “What?” *lol* This winter is very warm but usually temperatures below 30F are not rare here. We’ve had winters with -4 or colder. I’m okay with cold weather, I hate when it’s too hot though. My mum is like your character, she is always cold and puts on several layers of clothes. 🙂
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I have my share of layering tactics, both with clothing and with blankets, robes, etc. I can relate to this post! (It’s 2 below at the moment. Brrr!)
That sand definitely does look like snow!
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I just recently moved away from Tallahassee, so I totally know what you mean. I’m in New York City now and I’m… freezing my butt off! I love that photo. I totally thought it was snow!
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Ha! We have it really rough, don’t we? I was complaining to a friend who lives n northern Utah today that “it’s only going to 60 degrees!” For some reason, she didn’t feel sorry for me. Heh.
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So, I guess if you were here in Vancouver you’d be miserable 🙂 It’s been about -10 Celsius the past few days but it should warm up tomorrow.
I’d definitely trade the wet miserable weather for hanging out on beaches that are so white they look like snow. I’m really looking forward to my trip to Florida this April now
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Ok, so today it was 18 degrees as I drove the carpool to school. By the time I made it home after the gym, it was down to 9. And the windchill is negative. You’re making me hate you just a little bit 😉
That said, I love my mattress pad warmer. And the heated floor in my bathroom. And I’m so ready to go somewhere – anywhere – warm!
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When I was heavier, I was NEVER cold, always sweating, never wearing a coat, etc. Living in the midwest in winter was great because I never really felt cold- aside from the 0 degree days. Now? OMG. I would give anything to have my insulation back. A heating pad sleeps with me a night, fleece pjs, fleece sheets, 3 comforters and I’m STILL freezing. It seems I can NEVER get warm.
I loved the way you wrote this, I could feel the chill.
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Hurricanes be damned…I’dd love to live where you do…so pretty there.
well written as usual
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I’m not quite that extreme, but I do not like to be cold. Living in Japan in winter makes no sense for people like you and me and was something I actually considered when deciding whether to do this again. Thankfully they use the heater sometimes this winter. I used to sit at my desk in 4 layers hating everyone and wanting to die and then come home and live under my kotatsu. You would love a kotatsu. 🙂
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