It’s -32 degrees celsius here today.
The ice is frozen to crisp and dry, cars struggle to come to life, and breath looks more pipe smoke than misty water vapor.
People are avoiding walking to their destinations today, preferring the sacred indoors to the wild white world surrounding them.
It’s very cold, and both long johns and lined gloves are in order.
Cores are kept warm by layers; extensions like fingers and toes benefit from tender care for the torso.
Knowing glances and short weather jokes riddle conversations, and small acts of warm kindness become more common.
The heat is turned up in offices before others arrive, coffee is on, and friends jumpstart one another’s vehicles.
The coffee shop drive-thru has a line that extends far down the street. If we can’t warm our outsides fast enough, the inside will provide a temporary fix.
In a cold world, we retreat, tell stories of Spring in prose and poem, and watch the hearty partake of winter sports.
It’s -32 degrees celsius here today,
and I believe we’ll have to conquer the weather outside with the weather within.
(photo courtesy of www.mattfrise.com)