Twentyish Below Zero

When the temperature outside is frigid enough, you can “feel” the cold right through the walls and windows—no matter the temperature inside your home.  It’s like the cold is radiating waves that wash through everything.  The entire house feels stiff.  The heating system never stops murmuring underneath the floor.

I woke this morning to that feeling of cold.  When I shuffled from my bedroom to the back door to peer outside, as is part my ritual each morning, I found bright lines of frost lining the inside edges of the glass.

I touched the frost.

Yep, it’s real.

I flipped the switch for the outside light so I could see the thermometer I mounted to a brick pier outside.  Twentyish below zero.

Yep, it’s real.

--Mitchell Hegman