The morning is so cold it took my breath away when I went to get the paper. It snowed again last night and the couple of inches obliterated the path and hid the mounds of snow from the shoveling in the last storm. It was slow walking to the driveway. The back steps are also now covered in snow so poor Gracie did not want to go down, but she finally did. Even now the snow falls wildly in the wind. The trees too are blowing and bending. Today is winter at its worst.

I have to go out in a bit, and I am not all happy about it. I need dog food, then I have PT and finally I need to do a bit of shopping for tomorrow and the big game. I’m making some appetizers, and I need all the ingredients. I figure not many people will be crazy enough to go out so the shopping will be quick.

I know my mother would not have let us out on a day like today. Even her multi-layering would not be enough. I can remember freezing hands and purple lips. Instead, we’d be spending the morning in front of the TV. The house would be relatively quiet. Saturday was a festival of shows for kids, and we’d sitting on the rug close to the TV, too close for my mother. She was an adherent of all the old wives’ tales about kids including sitting too close to the TV could cause blindness.

In Ghana, this is getting into the hottest time of the year, the height of the dry season. I never missed winter so much. Every day was endless sun and heat and blowing sand. My lips were dry, and my feet calloused. There was no refuge: no fans or air-conditioning. Even my house, because of its metal roof, held the heat. I used to shower and not dry off so the air would feel cooling, and I could sleep. Right now I’d be happy for that, for at least a couple of days.

Time to face the elements.