Cold

I'm stimied again. Sometime during the afternoon yesterday, the polar express roared through Michigan and lowered the temperature a full 40 degrees. Yesterday at this time, the temperature was 72 degrees, the thermometer outside my window now shows 32. Winds are currently blowing out of the north north west at 20 to 30 mph with occasional gusts up to 40. Snow flurries are passing through with great regularity. All in all, it's the kind of day that noone dresses properly for since nobody anticipates that it could be this cold one day after such lovely weather. I recently read that there are 4 seasons in Michigan: Almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction. It's still winter. I guess that it will remain so for a while.

Here's the part where I'm stimied. I don't want to go out and do woodworking in the shed. It will be cold out there, and I just don't want to be cold anymore. I've noticed that the cold just settles into me this time of year. It's like my body is done fighting it. It's given up. It's been at it for a full third of the year at this time. It started getting cold in November, and 4 months later it is still cold. After 56 years of toughing out these winters, my body just doesn't want to fight it anymore. My resources are spent. The sweet siren song of the wood cannot be heard through the muffler I have to wear to keep warm. Were I to go out now, I would probably be burning my bookcases to keep warm.

I guess I'm going to have to content myself with the woodworking catalogs for a while and old issues of my favorite woodworking magazines. The weatherman says next week may be warmer. Let's hope so.