Journal: Monday, February 20, 2006

Today was a day of intense, unremitting cold. I felt it from the moment I woke up and noticed the windows glazed over with frost. I sat at the computer shivering, sipping my steaming coffee, and trying my best to shake off the glacial feeling and reheat my body. As I ate my bowl of hot oatmeal, I felt myself warming up, but the windows were still iced over with a silver gloss. During the day, I went out now and then to run errands, and each time, I felt the cold piercing my jacket and pants. My clothes seemed to give no protection whatsoever against the chilling wind. Each time, I couldn’t wait to get back home; each time I dashed into the house to get that wonderful feeling of heat and comfort from the baseboard heaters. Strange, but I even felt cold in the apartment now and then. I sometimes walked around shaking and shivering, clapping my hands and rubbing my arms as if I was outside in the frigid air. Even getting into a good book or sipping scalding tea didn’t seem to help. The cold was the king. All day I was the servant of a relentless and frosty master.