What is it about rain and cold that makes people miserable? The Amazon jungle thrives in the rain. I feel beaten by it. Literally.
Every year where I live it’s the same thing- months of rain, which means hardly any sun. There is something about the sun that makes you want to live. No wonder the Greeks and the Egyptians, as well as other ancient cultures, worshipped the sun. I remember being on the island of Crete many years ago and getting really bad sunburn. It was so bad, I did not step outside for two days because the rays were painful even through a shirt. I thought people worshipped the sun because it is so powerful… and deadly. Now, I find myself worshiping the sun because… I need it.
There is something about the sun’s rays warming your face that gives you hope in the winter, even in cold climates. When the sun is covered by clouds, even if the weather is warmer, there is something desperately lacking. When I lived in Moscow, Russia, I counted the years in winters. I lived there four winters. Every year, the temperature fell to -30 C. (That’s thirty degrees below freezing temperature, for all you Fahrenheit people.) If you didn’t cover your mouth outside, you would feel the cold air in your lungs when you inhaled. By Christmas, I felt cold all the time, even if I was in a warm room. I couldn’t shake it off. During the winter break, I took a flight to Egypt- the cheapest flight to a warm climate. For a week I defrosted. Even though it was warm outside, I still felt cold on the inside. My bones were cold, I realized. It took a couple days for me to feel congruent in this warm climate. When I returned to Moscow, I distinctly remember feeling warmth on the inside. I remember looking at everyone around me bundled in layers and chuckling on the inside. “Suckers,” I thought to myself. “Why in the world would you do this to yourself?”
This time, I don’t have that luxury. It’s not as cold as Moscow, but there is a lot of cold rain, and that cold humidity, toward the end of winter, permeates my bones until I’m cold no matter what the temperature is outside. I feel like it’s the end of the school year and I just want it to to be over with.
There is something crazy about people wanting to live in cold climates. Me, I would keep moving south until I found something comfortable. I remember watching a documentary about buffalo in the winter. They huddled in a circle to keep warm. They put their calves in the center and used their own bodies as a windbreaker. I remember how still the mighty buffalo looked, the wind slightly ruffling their short coats, snowflakes clinging to their fur, and a look of acceptance in their eyes, if only this could just be over with soon.
Time is on our side, you winter.
