In case you all think we're still sipping mojitos on the side of our pool: it has been freezing down here for the past week or so too. And I don't mean "freezing" in the literary sense, I mean really freezing, as in temperatures in the low teens at night, and temperatures below freezing during the day. It's so cold that when I left the house this morning, and wanted to wash a stain off my windshield, the wiper fluid froze on the window. That hasn't happened to me since that horrible winter in Germany a few years ago, when snow forced us to park our cars at the bottom of our street and walk up the hill.
Of course, compared to the several feet of snow in New England, the single digit temperatures around the great lakes, and the endless blizzards everywhere else, we really can't complain here in the south. We (you included) may once spring and summer hit and the price of oranges goes through the roof, but that's another matter. For right now, all southerners feel like God left his freezer door open, and yes, I did hear someone say that the other day.
Now I can hear you all think what everyone has been saying to me this entire week, "Well, you're from Holland, you're used to this kind of weather.". And allow me to let you in on the purpose of this blog: I have been just as cold as those who have lived here all their lives.
You see, after more than 2,5 years in a part of the world that is usually hotter than hell, my body has in fact adapted. It's called survival of the fittest, or something equally scientific, and basically means that my body has saved me from a quick trip to total heat-induced insanity by making my brain think that 95F degree weather is actually quite comfortable. As a result, I no longer find the summers here repulsively hot, have grown accustomed to the humidity, and subsequently (pretty word for here comes the kicker), my body thinks anything below 50F means my brain will freeze and I will die. Yes indeed, it does. I remember that during my first winter here, I never even wore a coat. It sat in my car, unused, for the entire winter season, while I laughed at students in hats and parkas. Last winter, I pulled out my fancy pea coat every once in a while, when temperatures would get into the 30s and 40s. This year, I have had to actually put the fleece liner in my LL Bean full-on winter jacket and wear it to work. So yes, those Dutch winter genes are no more. After more than two years in a part of the state that people from North Georgia call "the desert", they have succumbed to the incessant heat that is the summer.
So, please don't assume that because I'm "from Holland", I can handle, or even worse, I like this cold. I can't and I don't. I have been praying for summer for weeks, honestly. The only remnant of my Dutch heritage is my impressive collection of winter gear: my hats, enough scarves to match every outfit I own, four sets of gloves, thick knee socks, heating pads, and undershirts. But does that mean I'm a winter person? Heck, no.
And you know what's even worse? They've predicted snow for tomorrow, and are calling it an Arctic blast. Some blast that is going to be. We all can't wait. Yeah.
4 comments:
95F would kill me. You're right, you adapt to the temperatures. That is why 20F today felt like a nice warm temperature to go skiing :)
I hear you honey! After only three weeks in tropical Suriname, I found it very cold in 20 degrees Celsius Netherlands. That was back in September of course. Now I somehow got used to the snow outside, which has been here for the past couple of weeks (also quite unusual for this country). Do you want to borrow my thermal underwear? ;)
I agree that one adjusts, but I'm still stupid enough (and spoiled enough by the rest of the year) to go outside in shorts and flip-flops. I mean c'mon, it's only a moderate 50, right? Wrong! It's f***ing COLD!
In the Netherlands, the winters there are different cold. More 'wet' cold. Here I can deal with it a little better because it's dryer. But still, the cold is making me cross!
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