Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Baby, It's Cold Outside (the James Taylor/Natalie Cole version)


Hi Susan! Here is your Daily Horoscope for Tuesday, January 5:

Though you may be the life of the party on other days, right now you'd rather sit quietly with close family and read or play games. It's not a sign of anything serious -- you just need a break!


It is f*cking freezing here in South Florida - I have not left the house in four days. It is the first time I have turned on the heat in years - with highs in the 50's during the day and lows in the 30's at night, expected to extend through the end of the week, this is not normal!

My bundled-up household attire has ranged from a thermal dress, a long black sweater and some knock-off Uggs I got from Target (rather than springing for the real thing, which cost upwards of $200)
... to my cute embellished-on-the-*ss sweatpants, a long-sleeved fleecy nightgown and some chenille slipper socks - over the last few days, I have made a big pot of my ground turkey and vegetable soup... as well as my sister's chicken-corn chowder recipe, both amazingly delicious, nutritious and cold-weather-comforting... but soon I *must* get dressed to venture out to Publix, because I am out of everything (d*mn these menfolk of mine and their appetites... :-)

My friend Stephen is always trying to get me to move north (to the Boston area) and I repeatedly tell him there aren't enough socks in the world - however, it's a nice change of pace to stay inside, watch mindless TV, catch up on wishlist reading and To Do computer stuff... and just generally hibernate (bears and bears and bears, oh my!)...

SONG: Baby, It's Cold Outside by Frank Loesser (and there are a bazillion covers!)

BOOK: Santa Claus: Super Spy--The Case of the Florida Freeze by Ryan Jacobson

POEM: Cold Watercolor by Wyatt Prunty

We saw the birds jockeying for the feeder.
Inside, the networks fed us New Year's Day.
And then there was the snow, in thick raw blots
Down past a row of windows where it caught,
Turning the sills to ridges, as outside
The streets, houses, and yards thickened
From their named and numbered ways into
A watercolor unreadably white . . .
And all the while the manic snow descending,
Sometimes glazed against a pane but mostly
Falling from itself into itself
Under a low, bruised, and indefinite sky . . .

Until the things I watched to measure change,
A recent stump, raised flower beds, porch steps —
Had disappeared, with the snow still falling
And the gray January light fading,
Fusing the trees and houses in one shade . . .
Suddenly a shadow now, beyond the glass
That mirrored us with looking out,
Ourselves out there, watches and rings reversed —
As reporters had the years reversed,
We said, looking out, seeing us looking in.

QUOTE: “Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.” ~ Edith Sitwell

12 comments:

  1. Oh, my goodness. Fifty degrees? Even thirty. Jealously radiates into the snow and twelve-degree air.

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  2. Hey, Amy ~

    I admit it - I'm a baby when it comes to cold weather. I'm fond of saying that I cannot even comprehend someone *voluntarily* living in Michigan... or anywhere north of the Mason-Dixon line - do people actually get used to chapped lips, alligator skin and red noses? (not a rhetorical question... :-)

    This is why you need to come visit me in March - in other week, I'll be able to lay out by my pool again!

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  3. Well, I was just thinking this morning how I wish they made lotion for inside your nose.

    I'm a baby, too. My first response when people ask why I would leave Pittsbugh is because I cannot handle six months of winter. Also, I'm totally over clearing off my car in the morning.

    And, clearly, that's also why I'd visit you. Besides the fact that you're awesome.

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  4. Hey, Amy ~

    Even when we lived in Atlanta, we still had to warm up our car before we went anywhere December through February - now, it's just key in the ignition... and go...

    I would welcome being a respite from your w-w-w-inter w-w-w-oes - [in my best Bob Barker voice]... Come On Down!

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  5. Oh Susan...the cruelty! *laughing*

    Current temp here today is 11 degrees with no windchill - we're having a heat wave! And you haven't lived until you suit up in the Carhart bibs, barn coat, watch cap, gloves, and boots over your indoor 'the thermostat is set at 65 clothes'! And then slip-slide to the barn with two 5 gallon buckets of hot water for the livestock! Thank the goddess I'm in hot flash mode....

    Think warmly of me as the next snow storm bears down on us...and enjoy your 'snow days' at home!

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  6. Hey, Catherine ~

    I do realize that perspective is everything... but I just cannot imagine how you do it day after day - being a Leo, I'd always rather be too hot than too cold, so this is pure misery!

    I've even cheated and put my heat on 70 (when the recommended thermostat setting is 68) - and 55 at night? (are they f*cking kidding?!?)...

    I always think warmly of you, snowstorm or not - I've always much respected you as well, but now you are my she-ra (Pioneer Woman incarnate... :-)

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  7. Susan, this is where you and I differ in the Leo thing...I *hate* the heat and would much prefer to be cold than hot! I think it's because I'm so freakin' hot (temperature wise) all the time myself, I can't handle any more warmth. ;)

    I love the drop in temps we've been experiencing, it's allowed me to pull out cute little sweaters and dresses that have been hiding at the back of my closet forever! ;) Oh, and Beren and I actually took a dip in the hot tub Sunday night! The contrast between the 30-something wind and the 100 degree hot tub...simply amazing! ;)

    Now, I admit that I could never deal with Catherine's version of winter. Brrr...

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  8. Hey, M ~

    Okay, I'll give you the cute, rarely-worn cold-weather clothes point - Saturday night at our Labyrinth Cafe concert found me rocking jeans with a new purple sweater, the purple-and-green paisley scarf E gave me for Christmas and my recently-purchased-from Target fake Uggs (called Fuggs, I discovered on another blog... :-)

    However, I always feel I get my frigid fix on our annual South Carolina/Georgia holiday trip - when I get home, I want it to feel different than where I was, not the same!

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  9. Susan, I totally get it! It's kind of like when I go on vacation, I *prefer* to go somewhere with a different climate and atmosphere as home. Doesn't always happen but I try. :) Now, it's 10 degrees colder in Daytona so I expect I'll still be a bit chilly up there this weekend.

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  10. Hey, M ~

    I think what's most bothersome about this cold snap is how *long* it's lasted (at least a week and a half!) - a cooler change of pace is nice... but I can handle three days max (and that's why I live in Florida... :-)

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  11. Susan, I heard on the news that this is the longest cold snap in 50 years! Can you imagine? I've lived here 40 years and can't remember anything like it. As much as I enjoy the cooler weather, I am running out of clothes, time to warm up! ;)

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  12. Hey, M ~

    I hadn't realized - the longest cold snap in 50 years? (wow!). I just couldn't get warm last night (even thought it was nowhere the coldest evening we'd experienced) - my husband said it was "penetrating", which made total sense (building up over a period of time).

    My house is *very* well-insulated but I think our defenses were finally breached - I'm done... I give up... bring back my hot weather!

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