winter woes

the last week (and even two) have brought a stretch of cold weather that e and i haven't faced in all of our five years here. it's been bru.tal.

over the past few winters, i've often found myself proud of how i've handled this season. i have come to find a happiness in the silence, the cold, the calm. and more than anything, i have become stronger solely because of these frozen conditions. withstanding new england winters wasn't just something i thought i could never do, it was something everyone who knew me was sure i wouldn't survive. but there's nothing like a little lack of faith to give you some motivation...

however, seeing that it's only january, my stubbornness is pretty much gone and i'm about to beg for mercy. our spring break to vieques in february can't come soon enough and sometimes, in the morning, walking through the city to get to my office by the water, it's unclear if i'll actually make it to that week...or spring.

i  know by now where new englanders - particularly those in boston - get their edge. this winter chill that's taken over the town can creep up in you, through your mouth, take over your lungs and send that cold rush right to your heart. to survive it, you can't steel yourself, it'll only turn that thing to stone. you have to accept it, take it in and wrap it up in the warmth you've carried with you since those last days of summer.