The concept of cold

As a kid growing up in Jamaica, I used to wonder what cold weather, cold that was below freezing, would be like.
I'd put my face into a freezer and imagine that was what cold in northern climes would feel.

Little did I know then that i'd eventually be able to tell the differences in cold AND have an emotional reaction to those differences.

with the onset of the winter storms that have blown through the Bay Area, the cold now has that 'smell' of winter that foretells the kind of cold winter brings.

In Chicago, you can 'smell' the cold coming straight from the Canadian arctic, a crisp, dry cold. A cold that cuts right through you when its windy.
In New York, the smell is a more of a wet cold reminiscent of the North Atlantic, generally mild.

Here, that northern cold comes generally from Alaska and the Bay of Alaska, and its a .... 'heavy' kinda cold. One that 'seeps' into you. And chills you thoroughly.

Tho the weather between the rain is beautiful, with brilliant azure skies, it doesnt have that 'smell' of warmth.

Experience sez that any real warmth for the next 6 months will only come in freak bursts. No matter the actual temperatures.

Brr.

For me, someone who grew up in the tropics, this is not a 'honest' kinda cold. Chicago, you know the cold can kill ya - so you prepare. New York, when the noreasters come in, the pain of cold reminds you that this isnt something to mess with.

The cold here tho, will trick you into thinking that it is milder than it actually is. You have that strong California sun that will warm the place and trick your body into thinking that its mild. You have the dry desert air that dries the air out, but actually does little to alleviate the damp of the maritime chill that seeps through clothing and robs the warmth right outta you.

You can freeze yer arse off here.

Interestingly, other folk who grew up in the tropics, share the opinion of the cold here. Right, mars? :)

'Mediterranean' weather, my ass.

Whoof, feels like Christmas right now.