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A cold day in NYC

It’s a cold day in the City today. After a long stretch of balmy breezes, the sting of winter is already upon us. No snow flurries yet, but they’re somewhere up there.

Yesterday reminded me of how much I miss the cold. I seemed to have formed some of my best memories when it was cold outside. I guess that’s one of the consequences coming from Wisconsin, but it’s something else too.

It’s a good sort of cold; it’s not so cold that your ears, nose, and fingers fall off; it’s just cold enough to remind you that you are alive. It puts the chilling fire of God into your lungs, and reminds you that there is a fire to go to, and something hot to drink. Maybe the cold outside reminds you of the cold state of the soul when it’s alone, and given the light of that truth, it drives you to seek friends and memories that comfort and give warmth.

God is one of them, and like the cold, his little disciplines and reminders can turn the mundane temperate lives into lives of consequence and action. Part of it, I think, is the smell. When the cold comes, it depresses a lot of the heavy artificial smells and leaves most of the light natural ones. Even in the city, the cold can bring out the smell of grass and greenery. Their faintness cuts through the cold, reminding you of fresh-cut grass of summer. And while that smell is only a shadow, it’s there. And you can fill your lungs with it. Just don’t breathe too deeply, because those artificial smells are still there too.

The cold, like pain, is a call to action. It lets you know that warmth exists and spring is coming. When you experience pain, both physical and emotional, you know that something is wrong. And even death itself is a prelude to resurrection.

Out of necessity, it brings people closer together. It’s much easier for several people to stay warm together than one apart. And, of course, some have someone they can snuggle up against, the memory of whom is enough to keep them warm even when they are alone in the cold.

So I say to the great spirit of the North: bring on your cold and icy blasts. Unless my nose, ears, and fingers fall off, I will enjoy them, because I know spring is near.