It’s official. I’m an Oregonian.
Even though it’s only 36 degrees F outside today, I was one of those annoying people running around without a jacket. Just the other day, when it was perhaps a few degrees warmer, I insisted upon taking my winter jacket with me on the train ride into downtown, even though I was sitting with people in shorts. Not many people in shorts, but some.
My friends tease me about “always being cold,” usually wearing at least one more layer of clothing than everyone else. I broke out my fingerless gloves as early as September (for a walk on the beach at Manzanita) and turned on the heat in the house in October. Although I’ve not yet built a fire in my new fireplace, I do keep a space heater under my desk and have a wool blanket ready in my favorite rocking chair.
The natives have told me that it doesn’t typically get this cold this early in the season — if you consider this to be winter, which doesn’t officially begin until late December. It has been hovering right around freezing most mornings — sometimes a few degrees above, sometimes a few below — when I get up to walk the dogs, which means I need to watch out for a slippery deck in the courtyard when I take those first steps out the door. Just last week, my husky (who should have known better) wiped out when dashing across some frosty pavement. Even though our forecasts call for highs in the 40s, I’ve not seen it happen; I’m guessing the temperature slowly creeps up toward 40, then makes a wild run at 43 and hangs out there for a split second before racing back down below the 40 mark.
I am not complaining. Though it’s probably a bit warmer just now back in my home state of Virginia, January and February can be brutal there, with cold snaps that can see temperatures plummeting to around 12 for days at a time. Last winter, we had several of those cold spells, with only a few days’ reprieve — with temperatures “warming” into the 20s — in between. I spent a good bit of time huddled under a blanket, practically inside the hearth, while reading “Cold Mountain” as the fire burned. Come to think of it, that tale of desperation may not have been the best choice of reading material.
Today, though, I ran errands under overcast skies, cozy in my lightweight fleece pullover. Most everyone else had jackets and coats on, so perhaps I wasn’t so much in the minority after all, snug in my parka the other day.
Granted, if I had to remain stationery in such temperatures, I’d have to bundle up. But today I enjoyed joining my fellow Portlanders outside while underdressed for the weather. Though my hands felt a bit icy, I was congratulating myself on leaving my coat at home…. until I spotted a guy on a work crew in a short-sleeve shirt.
Yeah. I’ll need some more time before I can work up to that level.