Pina Coladas

Oh, the horror. It is the beginning of February and while it really has only been cold for approximately a week and a half, it seems like winter will never end. February may be the shortest month, but March always feels like the longest one. And March is deceivingly, cruelly cold in Massachusetts. Growing up I had this image of March being the month of crocuses and starting to go back outside without down accoutrements, but that's not really so. March is still winter for all practical purposes. The way I see it, winter has really just begun.

This all just hit me last night as I was trudging through the blistery cold on the way to the laundromat. The laundromat is about two blocks from me, but I was so cold last night I really did play with the idea of driving. It would have taken me longer to actually warm up my car and then park than it did take me to walk, but at least in my car I would have been shielded from the wind.

Then I cowered in the unheated laundromat for the next 1:15, through the washer and dryer. I sat on the slightly unsteady plastic lawn chair next to a unused large-capacity washer- hat, coat, scarf, and gloves all still on. I tried to read but it was just too cumbersome to try to flip the pages with leather gloves, so I gave that up and just sat there, trying to stay warm despite the shocking burst of cold air each time someone opened the door. I would say the low point for me was probably when I reached into the dryer to see if they would need another 8 minutes or if they were dry, and I realized that I couldn't tell because I had lost feeling in my fingers. This is the point at which I simply took out my laundry (turns out they probably could have used the extra 8 minutes) and gave up. I love my family, and I love my friends, and I love New England, but I don't know that I can take it! I know, it can be worst- at least I'm not in Michigan (snap!), but really, I'm over winter. I hit my wall. The cold cannot touch me now because until April I'm living in a vision of pina coladas and palm trees.