Brrr!
Brrr!! It was cold for like a nanosecond one day earlier this week. Today, though? As I write this it is a balmy 66. The sun is shining, we are shedding layers, even going so far as to put on a pair of shorts, and one might mistake it to be the month of May instead of November. Unusual weather for this time of year to be sure. After all Axle Rose wasn’t singing about the warm November rain.
But before we consider the effects of global warming, my weather app tells me a cold snap is approaching. Looks to be arriving on Monday where we will see a 20 degree drop in temperature. Someone failed to give the arctic jet stream the memo about global warming. So for you lovers of cool weather, it looks like it is coming.
Which brings us back to the cold day we had for a nanosecond one day earlier this week.
As Ernie and I were getting ready for our walk and I was putting on my coat he remarked to me, “You won’t need that coat.”
Me: Why do you say that? I am cold. It’s cold out isn’t it?
Ernie: Nah. It’s refreshing.
Now, my mistake in that moment was failing to get clarity on his definition of ‘refreshing.’ Mine? It’s a cold Iced Tea on a hot summer day. It’s a dip in a pool. It’s a cool breeze blowing through your hair. His definition apparently? Not cold enough for anything heavier than a light weight coat.
I put aside my medium weight coat, trusting his cold weather assessment, and put on a lighter weight one.
We stepped outside.
Brrrr!!!
Me: OMG, it’s cold out here!
Ernie: Nah, I wouldn’t say that. It’s refreshing, like I said!
Me: I would not call it refreshing. Refreshing is something that is pleasantly cool and cools you off when you are hot.
And thus began our conversation about how to describe cold weather.
I know that in Seattle they have something like a hundred different words to describe the many different types of rain they get.
I don’t think we have that many to describe the cold, but we did get into some of them.
Me: I think I might have said it was brisk out. Or chilly. I certainly would not have gone so far as to say it was bone chilling, or freezing. But refreshing? No.
Ernie: So what is the criteria for brisk or chilly vs say refreshing?
Me: Well, I think we start with the basics. There’s Somewhat Cold, A Little Cold, Cold, Very cold, Extremely Cold, and Freezing.
Ernie: Ok.
Me: Now, using that as our scale, I would put brisk and chilly in the Cold category. Whereas your ‘refreshing?’ that’s the Somewhat Cold or A Little Cold category. See the difference?
Ernie: Mmm, yeah, I think so. It would seem my somewhat or a little cold is your cold.
Me: Exactly. We are not cold-calibrated.
Now you would think after 39 years of marriage and having lived in some very cold places (Boston, Albany), we’d be very clear on understanding our levels of cold and how we would describe them. Seems to be some sort of communication breakdown I suppose. Nothing requiring marriage counseling, but definitely needing looking into and re-calibrating.
Ernie: Ok, so then what are some of the other ways to describe the cold so that we can get on the same page.
A quick google search revealed the following:
Me: Well, you’ve got Frigid, Icy, Frosty, Glacial, Bracing, Nippy, Crisp. Those each fall into the following cold levels in my rankings: Freezing, Freezing, Extremely Cold, Freezing, Cold, Somewhat Cold, and A Little Cold. Interestingly your ‘refreshing’ doesn’t even make the list of cold terms. But also interestingly, the phrase “colder than a witch’s tit” does and according to google that falls into the Extremely Cold Ranking.
Suffice it to say, that come Monday when the cold snap appears I think Ernie and I will be on the same page on how to describe it and what the appropriate outerwear will be for our walk.
Because in whatever level of cold you are in, the proper outerwear selection is key. As the Swedes like to say, and living in the Arctic Zone I think they know a thing or two about the cold, “There is no bad weather, just bad clothing choices.”
Brrr. It’s going to be cold soon. Bundle up accordingly.