2024-01-17: cold snap

the last week temperatures have snapped back to the expected. twenty below, enough i have to bundle up in my scarf and trapper hat just to get the mail. i take the dogs for very short walks (5-10 mins) if they let me; my older dog is the one who dictates this. the enthusiasm of his youth having deserted him, he usually turns back.

can you blame him? when that wind catches your face; when you labour through deep, fresh snow. so i get the mail, head back home with the dogs. they jump up on the couch, snuggle up together in the corner.

january and february are always the worst part of the winter. with christmas done (and the christmas break done), we buckle down until the provincial family day holiday in late february. it always feels so far away. you mitigate how you can: keep the tree up a little longer. blankets on the sofa. lots of different teas.

this year at least it's a little easier. having missed christmas with my partner's family due to the dominican republic, we're having our christmas celebration on the family day long weekend. my partner and i determined we're not getting each other anything big, given the vacation — just little things — but there'll be stockings and a big turkey dinner and two kinds of pie. this year, at least, winter won't feel so hard.

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