cold embrace

 

I hate being cold. I can't stand having an icy-tipped nose, blue-white fingers, and numb toes. I loathe cold rooms, cold winds, and cold butter than won't spread in the morning. 

The cold has come early this year, well before I had prepared for it by hunting out the hotties and thick cardies, planning a fruit cake or two, trying to work out how the new heating system in the kitchen functions, and this has made me think again about how to combat the cold. Normally I deal with it by staying inside as much as possible and for as long as possible, but this week I'd made arrangements and unfortunately they nearly all involved the bitter outdoors. Yet I found they all had compensations.

:: A football match with the slapping, cold wind blowing in our faces from the Thames, and Manchester City slapping down our team. BUT the atmosphere, pantomine antics of crowd and performers, and hot Bovril made up for the cold-blooded deafeat. 

 

:: An exciting school rugby match in glorious surroundings and sunshine during which my feet apparently ceased to exist. BUT our team won.

 

:: A swim yesterday morning in an outdoor pool which was like swimming in thick, swirling, Hound of the Baskervilles mist. Wet hair and a wet face feel very cold at 1 C. BUT the pool is heated, and it felt magical to swim with the weak sunshine and bare trees occasionally appearing through the mist.

 

:: Planting hundreds of tulip bulbs that will not wait for better weather. Simon and I dug trenches over the weekend and felt like something out of Hamlet or a play by  Beckett ('down in the hole, lingeringly, the grave-digger...') with soil, spades and black humour. BUT it kept us warm and made us laugh.

[it is well-nigh impossible to make bulb trenches look attractive in a photo]

 

:: Sorting out the hyacinths that are being forced in the dark, chilly porch and garage. BUT it's quite amazing that the cold actually kick-starts the bulbs into life - quite the opposite to how it usually makes me feel.

'Embrace the cold' should be my new motto. After all, it's hardly Antarctica outside, and nothing like what Captain Scott, Apsley Cherry-Garrard, Captain Oates, 'Birdie' Bowers and Edward Wilson went through. (They, with Herbert Ponting, are all heroes of mine who are brought to life brilliantly in The Birthday Boys by Beryl Bainbridge). Whenever I feel cold taking out the bins or bringing in the post, I always imagine how terrible it must have been for them to go outside in a howling Antarctic gale and take readings and sort out the weather measuring instruments with bare hands. It puts my 30 second dashes in perspective. 

Somehow, though, despite the occasional compensations, I don't think I'll ever warm to winter's cold embrace.

Comments

[patty]

Happy Thanksgiving from Northern California where it is quite cold here, too! I am glad I managed to put in my tulip bulbs before the freeze - pure luck, as I usually forget them in the produce bin...
It's nice to be inside and warm today cooking and watching the dog show on tv. Love the beautiful garden photos!

[jacky]

How i hate the cold and dark mornings and nights!!! But the early sunshine across the fields and the blue sky was quite beautiful this morning....roll on spring, untill then happy sewing and baking!!!

[Scarlett]

I hate the cold too and we have had our first snow here this winter today-although it does look very beautiful! Love the hyacinth pics!

[Rebecca]

The cold butter is very irritating indeed and I will not succumb to the spreadeasy variety.

You swam outdoors!! You very brave lady. I have taken to running rather than walking the dogs, just to keep warm. It's quite something given that I simply hate running, I do however like the fact that the whole thing is over quicker and I can be back indoors, such a contrast to the warmer months when I am glad to meander through the countryside.

[Pennyblossoms]

Cold toes and noses are just the worst, aren't they? If your feet get cold they take forever to heat up again and without going to the extreme lengths of scaring people by wearing a balaclava, I no of no other way of keeping a nose warm!
Z xx

[Helen in Switzerland]

It's lovely though when it's freezing cold outside and you're inside and warm and cosy! One of my very favourite things!!

[Laura]

The Worst Journey in the World by Cherry-Garrard is one of my favorite books! Wishing you warmer days soon!

[Deby]

Cashmere....

[Red]

I live in Atlanta, Georgia, USA where it was up to 70F today. Granted, that is unseasonably warm. My mother in law lives in Wisconsin, USA where it was below freezing. We go visit her for Christmas and she always teases me for not liking the cold. I don't really see any reason that I should like the cold and reading that you don't either makes me feel less wimpy. Thanks!

[Lynne]

I am waiting for someone to invent a nose-warmer, as I suffer immensely from a cold/red nose. Perhaps this could be included in one of your inspiring books! It would of course need to achieve warmth and an on-trend look.....

[Janice]

I love the cold and not just because it gives me an excuse to wrap up and stay indoors. I love seeing mists in the morning and frost on the fields. I love wearing woolly hats, woolly tights, boots, cardis - the lot! I love the darkening nights and the fires and the extended evening hours of crafting.

[Virginia]

We haven't really had the cold yet. It's been getting chillier, but haven't had a frost yet.

Love the tulip and hyacinth processing. :)

[Katherine]

Hear hear!
It's snowing outside, which is completely unacceptable behaviour for November. I have tickets for the theatre tonight, and am now wishing I didn't... Oh to curl up with a blanket, a hot chocolate and my knitting instead. Or to act like the birds and fly South for winter. Or even a bit of traditional British backbone, to motivate myself to deal with the cold (instead of my customary hibernation!)

[Leslie Reid Oldham]

We just had a winter storm here on Vashon Island that blew in from the north, not our usual weather pattern, a few inches of snow and with howling winds that dropped many trees our island was without power. I spent two nights with my Wheaten Terriers and no heat. 25 degrees F the first night and 15 the second night. It was definitely two two dog nights. Everything seems so easy now that we have light and heat. Stay warm.

[Penni]

Re: Your photo of the tulip rows: It is the promise of beauty that makes it beautiful.

[Susan Krzywicki]

Here in San Diego, at 45F, I feel the cold. How thin my blood must be. I'd love to do a book about how to embrace the cold and keep warm stylishly.

Growing up here and in Hawaii has made me a little hesitant about the joys of cool.

Fun things to do in the cold? Reasons to be outdoors? Hmmmmmmm.

[Tuechef.blogspot.com]

Here in Lima, Perú, at 27 °C I feel so warm. Thanks for your photos and Your blog. I´m a blogger too and invite you to vist my foodie blog: tuechef.blospot.com
A lot of kisses
Pili