more about the cold

There is nothing positive to be said about -1ºF. Or, for that matter, -1º with a windchill of -15ºF. There is nothing positive to be said about the coldest day of the year, unless you count being inside, drinking hot chocolate and eating sweet tea biscuits.

There is, however, a certain cleanliness, a certain crispness about the -15º air. With not a cloud or snowflake in the sky skewing visibility, the lines of the buildings are perfectly straight and clear and everything is, in other words, brilliantly in focus. I looked down one of the few diagonal streets from the train this morning and could see the outline of downtown against the gray-yellow morning sky. And dotted above the three- and four-story red brick buildings into the distance were perfect clouds of white smoke coming from all the metal flews and chimneys. They seemed to be frozen in perfect formations by the air all at the same moment.

As I sat on the train this morning in just slightly warmer than -15º, bundled in my long johns, scarf, hood up, headphones on, I could also smell, quite strongly, chocolate along with every blast of frigid air from the frequently opening door.