The morning is cold. Outside even looks cold. Right now it is 22°. Tonight it will go down to 17°. We currently have a wind advisory. All the trees and branches are swaying. When I went to get the paper, I gasped at the cold. It is a day to stay close to hearth and home. 

The house where we lived when I was a kid was close to the top of a hill. Across the street from the bottom of that hill was a field. Sometimes I’d walk to school across that field. I don’t know if it really was a shortcut, but I thought it was. The alternative was to take the sidewalk, turn the corner then walk the straightaway to school. I remember when the wind used to whip across that field. It was so strong and cold I’d turn my body away from it and walk backwards. My jacket would billow. The cold would blow up my sleeves. It made me shiver. I stopped taking the shortcut on cold, windy winter days.

I remember listening on snowy mornings for the fire alarm to blow the signal for a snow day. I remember cheering when it did. What I don’t ever remember having was a day too cold for school. There were no school buses so we all walked. Some kids even walked as far as a mile. 

We were the bundled generation. I lost track of the layers my mother made me wear. The only part of my body exposed to the cold was my face. My cheeks and nose turned red as if chaffed. My eyes teared from the wind. My nose ran. I had no tissues. I just had my mittens. 

Chicken noodle was my favorite soup, Campbell’s chicken noodle. I’d eat the chicken and the noodles then I’d add crushed Saltines to sop up the soup. The top of my bowl was all soaked Saltines. I’d have to wield the spoon carefully or the Saltines would slip back into the bowl with a plop and a spray. 

My mother always made pea soup after she’d serve bone in ham for Sunday dinner. My father and I loved her pea soup. She would always freeze some for me. I remember with the last batch she ever made she froze my soup in a Tupperware container with a blue top. I kept the container in my freezer. After my mother passed away, I still didn’t eat it. I wanted to save that soup. I wanted to save the taste, the memory. Finally I defrosted the soup and had enough for a few dinners. Every spoonful was a gift from my mother. 

Looking out the den window, I can see bright sun, a gorgeous blue sky and pine trees bending and swaying from the wind. When I got the paper, I gasped from the cold. The wind went right through me. I was out and back in record time. The high today will be 32°. I’ll be bundling.

No birds are at the feeders this morning. I figure they’re hunkered down somewhere warm. The dogs are sleeping on the couch. Jack, the cat, is sleeping curled inside his teepee. I am the only one up and about. I am jealous of them. 

When I was a kid, winter Saturdays often meant going to the Saturday matinee. It was always crowded. It was always loud. The balcony was usually closed because of projectiles, but that didn’t matter. They got tossed from behind us, from the back. I remember getting hit in the head with Jujube candy. They hurt. We saw a cartoon or two and a movie. The only movie I remember is The Wizard of Oz because of the awesome change to color. I didn’t know it was an old movie, one we couldn’t see on TV because of that color. The back side rows always had couples making out. I used to sneak peeks when I went to the bathroom.

I’d buy long lasting candy which didn’t include Jujubes, the hard candy used as weapons. The work to chew them was wasted. They really didn’t taste good. They were only good as weapons. I’d often buy a Sugar Daddy or Sugar Babies. They lasted.