Oh, how I do intensely dislike cold weather - and temps haven't even touched zero C yet, though it has been grazed on a couple of nights. No one here in this country has seen any new snow except, perhaps, high on the Scottish mountains.
My antipathy for Winter is exacerbated by having two large rooms to keep warm, living room and bedroom (plus kitchen, of course) not just for me but for my four co-residents who feel the cold as acutely as, or even more than, I do, despite their being permanently enshrouded in their fur coats. The expense of keeping us all from freezing is a challenge every year - and now, as reliable as ever, come the warnings that this Winter will be the coldest, if not since ever, then for many years past. But we hear this doom-laden prediction year after year around this time though it never turns out to be as bad as that - so far.
Perfectly aware that I ought to be grateful that I've got a roof over my head - being homeless for just a short while would see the end of me I'm sure. Any thoughts about the depth of suffering of those unfortunate people cuts deep, as it should. So let's stifle my grumbling - after all, it's just three weeks to go before nights start, even if hardly perceptibly, back to getting shorter. In the meantime, my current mood is - ROLL ON SPRING!!!
I feel for you. SG is regularly complaining about the cold here!
ReplyDeleteThe first blast of genuine Winter cold is always especially hard to bear, knowing that one has the whole season yet to come - and I never really get used to it. Like S.G., I'll too now be eagerly awaiting the time when Winter 'turns'.
Deleteit IS on the cool side here and getting dark at 4:30p. but come 12/21, daylight starts to creep back in!
ReplyDeleteYup, that's the beacon of hope we long for.
DeleteThe cold is harsh. I live with it because I’m a New Yorker and I have to, but I don’t like it. I hope you never have to worry about being able to keep your home warm, let alone keep your home. You and the kitties are lucky to have each other.
ReplyDeleteI could never live all year round in New York, or indeed any place which regularly undergoes harsh Winters. I'd need somewhere to retreat to, or hibernate in, until the nasty months are over. The furry companions are my solace - and, for each other, hot water bottles!
DeleteWell, despite the fact it's an uncomfortable 34 here today (and summer has only just begun!), I do feel for you, Ray.
ReplyDeleteI really, really hate the cold - even our pathetic Aussie winters.
So if even your fur coated friends are feeling it, it must be COLD! Come on spring, just get here please.
Cold saps the pleasures of life, Rozzie. I've always felt that way. Where's global warming when we need it most? (But that'll come when we DON'T need it!) I'll be envying you your Spring, when it arrives, as well as your Summer, but only if it doesn't turn into another boiler as, I'm afraid, is almost certain to happen. But for now over here, just get this done with - and GO!
DeleteOh dear...I hope your good with patience? Didn't the cold and winter just start??? It's been mild here...but is to get cooler this week. I can't believe how mild it's been this close to, well...now December.
ReplyDeleteOur Autumn proper was only mild in short snatches, otherwise it was a fore-run of what we've now got and which is due to stay for at least another two weeks. I do NOT want to hear from those hoping for a white Xmas, but their voices have already started up. Ugh!
DeleteBeing a tad south of your location, and thanks to climate change, our winters are pretty mild of late. You'll forgive me for hoping for some snow this year... it's so pretty! BTW, like Breenlantern, I'm from upstate New York, so I know from harsh, cold, frozen winters. I don't think I could live in that climate again.
ReplyDeleteHave to admit that our recent Winters have indeed, like yours, definitely been on the mild side overall, but I never stop wishing for more of them. Still, nothing we've had comes close to that horrific 1962-3 Winter which just went on and on and on - right up almost to Easter with deep snow. Don't know if I'm hardy enough any more to survive that kind of thing.
DeleteI love summer and I too want to get winter over with. It's so depressing at this time of year when the days are so short. I don't like the cold either. I am looking forward to the days getting longer again.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that you and I are in the majority, Carol. This Winter we have more than enough to feel downcast about before we add cold weather to the list. If by next Spring the vaccine is widely available to all who want it - though presumably not for those who think it's all been a hoax and who have refused to wear masks - it'll be just cause for double celebration.
DeleteWe're having below freezing temperatures right now, too, with a few snow flurries- colder than our "average" temperatures. I used to prefer cold to hot, but not anymore. I fear it's going to be a long winter. Even my cats are feeling it. Every time I sit down, I end up with one on my lap!
ReplyDeleteYes, I have one or more cats regularly fighting for the privileged position of being in my lap - or at night, under the duvet with me. Sometimes I have to manage two at the same time - hardly conducive to getting a good night's sleep. Never mind, probably four months to go, which at least is one less than five. ;- )
DeleteOh, I agree. Come, spring, come. I am not a winter person. I see it's beauty, but fear its bite. Stay warm. Hopefully you and your kittens are all sleeping together. That's what happens at the boyfriends. Wishing you all well and plenty of warmth.
ReplyDeletei always say that Winter is best when looked out on from behind glass.
Delete'fraid that none of the cats here will sleep with or near each other. Having come from different houses, and all adults, they are constantly wary of each other, I suppose not having grown up together. Their readiness to give each other an occasional wallop has me like playing a never-ending game of chess trying to keep them a distance apart. Usually two or, more rarely, three of them [only once all four] will sleep on my bed at the same time though never within a paw's each of each other. I have to arrange pillows and blankets between as 'fences'. Such all-year-round fun it is - not.
We haven't had too many cold days yet, though this week was chilly, so I feel your pain ... and have the same fur children to think about as they snuggle under blankets or on laps to keep warm.
ReplyDeleteWe'll send warmer thoughts your way!
Much appreciated, Bob. Less cold weather due to arrive next Thurs - until at least a week before Xmas. Will be ever so welcome. Actually for the last few successive years, the coldest stretches have been, oddly, nearly all pre-Xmas. We still may get snow afterwards but the extended freezing spells have usually gone before Jan. That's what I'm hoping might happen this Winter too.
DeleteI wish you could come visit. Here is is considered chilling to hit at 10C; The apricity of the sun helps.
ReplyDelete10C would do me just fine right now, sun or no. Still, solstice only a fortnight away, then we've turned the corner. Yippee!
DeleteI hate the cold as well. This is the first winter that I've not had to go out in it every day to go to work. I'm relishing watching winter through the windows.
ReplyDeleteThat's the best way to observe this otherwise deeply unpleasant season - in comfort and with, perhaps a pet or two to cuddle up against - and maybe with a glass or so of mulled wine [though I've now been teetotal for four years so I shan't be telling anybody].
DeleteI don't mind the cold as long as it isn't ridiculously cold. We do live in Maine, so cold is a fact of life. The problem with Maine is the Spring takes so long to come. Luckily, we can now go to Maryland and take advantage of the earlier warmer weather.
ReplyDeleteNot so bad when one has the means and wherewithal to follow the sun or enjoy its earlier arrival some place else. For most of us unluckier ones, though, it's just sit and wait.
DeleteHi Ray,
ReplyDeleteBeen awhile since I visited your blog, it was comforting to read it again. Like you I dislike the cold intently. Didn't think that much about it when I was younger but the older I get, do not like the cold. That's why I take off for Palm Springs, California in the dead of winter. My goal is to spend at least one month in the warm climes of Palm Springs with my Canadian buddy Pat, whenever this COVID pandemic ends and assuming we survive it.
Take care and try to keep warm!
Ron
Good to see you here again, Ron. Lucky you to have somewhere to seek 'sanctuary' at away from the unpleasant coldness, while we have to sit and wait for it to be over. But now we're due to get over a week of mild weather, with no frosts, until it starts to cool down again before Xmas, though still not as cold as it could be. I'm hoping that this Winter will follow the pattern of all our more recent ones, giving us our worst cold weather pre-Xmas, with Jan and Feb being just about bearable.
ReplyDeleteStay well and keep dodging that pesky virus.