A Belgian Winter

After the longest cold spell since the winter of 1941, our frigid temperatures have turned into a Belgian winter.  The cold here is always described as different than the cold in Minnesota.  A 0 degree Celsius temperature reading here (32 degrees F) is not the same as a Minnesota 32 degrees F.  I haven't been able to figure out a good way to explain it.

Now I have a way to describe it.  On Monday, we woke to the freezing cold temperatures we had been enduring for more than a week.  I went about my day and by afternoon the temperatures were on the rise.  I sat in my kitchen next to the heater and as the temperature outside rose, I got colder and colder.  A chill came over me.  A chill that I hadn't felt in a couple of weeks.  No, I wasn't getting the fever that's going around.  My body was readjusting to the Belgian winter.  The dampness set in.  It is a completely different kind of cold.  Bone-chilling.  Even though the temperatures outside have risen, it just feels cold all the time and the sun is gone.

It makes me sad to see all of the dead pansies and crocuses everywhere.  It's sort of like Old Man Winter (whom we haven't seen at all this year) saying "Ha.  You thought spring was almost here but I am having the last laugh."

Today we've had fits of rain.  It will rain in a solid downpour for ten minutes.  Then it stops and the sun might even come out for a minute or two - just long enough to tease you.  Then it starts to sleet or rain again.  It's Wednesday, so the boys have soccer practice.  It had been cancelled for a few weeks during the subzero temps and frozen field, but now the field is thawed.  I fully expect Monkey to come home with three layers of mud - one for each layer of clothes I made him wear.

I hope spring arrives soon.  We haven't had the pleasure for very long Mr. Winter, but I'll be happy to see you go.