Friday, January 26, 2007

Chill out

Being that I have a warm place to live, I can appreciate the cold wave that has hit Boston. The air is exhilirating to be in for a short period -- as long as you have the means to escape it when you choose. The temperature here bottomed out at 3 overnight and rose to just 12 today, with a wind that made it feel significantly colder. It's 8 now and should drop a few more degrees tonight before rebounding tomorrow afternoon.

The coldest it's been in Boston since I've been alive is Christmas Day, 1980, when the mercury slipped to -7. I remember walking down Chelsea Street that morning, from my house to my aunt's. During the winter of 2003-04, while I was living in central Massachusetts, I set my alarm for 5:30 a.m. because we were experiencing record cold and I wanted to go outside to experience what that feels like. I bundled up and went out for a couple of minutes, and when I checked the official reading it was -14. Now THAT is cold.

2 comments:

Jason said...

Jim, my friend, you are a sissy. When I was growing up in "potato country," recess at school wasn't canceled unless the temperature (with wind chill factored in) was less then -40 (yes, it happened several times. And, for the record, it was at least -8 here last week (I think it actually hit -12 one day but I can't be sure).

bye for now.

Jim said...

No doubt you've got me in the cold department, but I'm still waiting for you and Mike to answer my challenge on the Trivial Puruit board.

Bring it, my friend.