-?

I’m trying to come to terms with what my 10th grade science teacher said about global cooling. Brrrrrrrrrrrr. I think it’s here. We have arrived. These are those precious days that we long for all year, the days when you can actually hear the cold. It is why we continue to put up with the traffic, and the mosquitoes, and the high taxes--to breathe refreshment. It’s even better than menthol or peppermint.

As we look forward to -20 F. /-29 C., hope rises that my vehicle might not start. I might be stranded at home (unable to go to work, forced to sleep in), but I doubt it. With temps like these I wonder whether Canada would now be interested in annexing us. Sure, these are paltry attempts at frigid numbers in the eyes of the Great White North, but we’re proud of them.

To further get in the mood today, I actually spent a few hours listening to the cool (spelled c-a-n-a-d-i-a-n) Bruce Cockburn on my iPod. And sure enough “The Coldest Night of the Year” came up. And it brought me back in time to the days before I had a bed partner to help keep me warm.

Bruce ends his song with the line:
Now I'm sitting here alone and sleepless
and wondering where you are
And wishing you were here
On the coldest night of the year.

It’s good to be on the other side of those years.