It is 7 degrees outside.
7 degrees isn't that cold, but the sky is bleak and wintry. Snow appears imminent but hasn't arrived yet. I'm wearing a sweater, socks, jeans and a shawl in my basement office and I still don't feel cozy warm and toasty. I've cranked the heat. I've been drinking tea or hot water and lemon all day. I feel fine... I don't think I'm coming down with anything, I just tend to be chilly in the fall and winter.
I'm jealous of my husband, big, hairy frenchman that he is; he's my own personal furnace. The other night when the wind howled outside my bedroom window and we climbed into bed, he just about took off like a rocket when I stuck my iceberg feet up under his backside. He actually accused me of trying to climb up his butt! Believe me! I was that cold! So I flipped around and said, 'warm me up please!' He snuggled in - firey and furry and said, 'your butt is as cold as your feet.' I know.
Women are cursed. Have you ever noticed that the coldest parts of your body are your nose, your fingers, your toes and your butt cheeks. Must be due to the fat content there. No blood supply. What then? It's like the margerine phenomenon. A pound of butter in the fridge turns to stone. Same with butt fat, I guess.
Come January, with it's snowy, blizzardy, 40 below nights, I'll dive into bed and my teeth will chatter until my breath heats the air under the blankets. The only thing that will work to warm me up is a scorching bath, almost too hot to bear. To run a tub so steamy, it makes you sweat and the mirror opaque.
Today at lunch, after spending the morning in the basement working, my fingers so frozen I could hardly type, I turned on the oven, opened the door to let the heat escape and warmed myself in front of it. I dreaded opening the fridge to make lunch for the girls. Even the grapes were too cold to touch. Goosebumps crawled up my arms and over my back.
Tonight, I'll pit in on the couch under a mound of blankets with my kids to watch The Incredible Hulk. We'll practically sit on top of each other, trying to share body heat, only our nose and eyes visible to watch the show. When bedtime comes, everyone will whine about leaving the comfort of a snuggle and shiver and shudder in their beds.
And it's ONLY 7 degrees.