When it’s cold, I can see exactly how crooked my glasses are. Because they become clouded by the condensation of warm breath. Two sheets of ice blocking my vision.

I walk down the street, noting where the cold leaks through my jacket so I can prepare better next time to avoid it. Something about that cliché metaphor about the icy fingers of winter… kind of creepy.

So I walk. And it’s sunny. And I can’t see. And I almost slip a few times because I can’t see the icy patches clearly through the space above and below my glasses.

I wonder what it must be like to be stranded on Mars, and think maybe that would be more comfortable than this because then you’d always be in a climate controlled environment even though it’s actually colder than you can even imagine outside. Why don’t we all wear spacesuits outside during winter? It would be preferable and we’d all look pretty cool. Snowball fights would look a lot more epic. And we could all go into the woods and pretend to be explorers of a frozen world like we did when we were kids. Climbing the snow hills built up by the snow plows, running and rolling and invincible in snow pants and face masks.

Winter makes you strong. Winter makes you cold. When you truly know cold, you have a chance to learn about warm.