different kinds of cold.

so winter finally decided to show up in georgia.
thing is, it doesn't look any different than fall. it might be a little more brown.
it just FEELS different.

i woke up yesterday morning and i couldn't get out of bed. i had wool socks, sweats, a beanie, gloves, four blankets and a dog keeping me warm and i wasn't about to give that up. our heating system had broken and it was fifty-five degrees inside. it was my day off, so i got up, put on some boots, and tried to clean the house. i've never felt cold like this and i used to work at a ski resort (at six in the morning, usually).

this was completely different. walking around hurt my exposed skin. every object i touched felt like it had been soaked and frozen. all my clothes felt damp but it was just the cold, somehow penetrating deep into the fibers. i tried to turn up the heat, but since the problem was an unattached pipe, it didn't help. we called a guy to come work on it, but he couldn't make it until later in the day.

i tried to go about my business. i opened all the curtains and let the sun heat the house. when i tried to shower, i couldn't feel most of my body as the water hit me. when i started to warm up, it stung. it made me gasp and cry. this is humid cold. it hurts your blood. it hurts your bones.



now that the heat is fixed, it's kind of funny watching the news and hearing phrases like "we're your center for updates on closures - we'll tell you what schools are closing due to weather before any other station" and "stay tuned to find out when we might see some sleet."

i used to wonder how come i can only remember one snow day in my whole life and this state stops for sleet?
then i froze yesterday and now i know.