Cold

This is completely ridiculous.


We've had a cold spring up here in Toronto. When I say cold cold, I mean about 10° colder than the seasonal average and that's in metric, not Fahrenheit. I heard a reliable report that last Monday, it snowed in Huntsville (which is about 150 km/100miles from Toronto). Snow, I ask you! On June 1! As I may have mentioned once or twice, June 1 also marks the day where according to a City of Toronto by law, landlords no longer have to provide heat. Usually, by the time this date arrives, my entire building is sweltering and we all feel like hugging the superintendent for finally being able to cool down the apartments. This year, not so much.


Because there is no heat on anywhere and because nights are downright chilly with single digits (e.g., 44F), the entire building is cool. The fact that the hallway vent is close to my front door and emits galeforce arctic winds doesn't help either, but we can't turn it off, because then there's no oxygen circulating and trust me, I'd rather have it be cold than stuffy. And cold I indeed have - between the air outside and the arctic winds whistling under my front door and somehow manage to swoop around two corners and hit me as I sit at my desk, all of me is cold all the time. A week ago, I relented and got out my winter pants. The next day, I grabbed a winter sweater, the day after I added a blanket on my legs in the mornings and still, somewhere around Thursday, I couldn't focus on work because all I was aware of was how cold my hands were. So I got out Karin's wrist warmers and then it was just my fingers and my nose that felt numb.


Where did my weather influence go? I used to be able to make it snow (much to RachelH's chagrin), but no matter how hard I try, I can't make it warm. Or maybe my influence has done a 180? Two weeks ago, I got out my summer clothes and put my winter clothes away and instantly, we had an overnight frost warning. Coincidence?


One of the side effects of Humira is warmth and it was one of the first things I noticed about it. About half an hour after my first shot, a rush of heat swept through me and it's been particularly helpful for my fibromyalgia - the warmer you are you are, the less the pain. However, that's not helping now. I have lovely, bright summer clothes I can't wait to wear and instead I've crawled back into dark and wooly. Don't get me wrong, I love my handknits, but not in June. In June, I'm starting to look at summer dresses and no longer wearing socks. In June, I start spending a lot of time in the park and these days, even with a sweater, you can feel the bite in the air. In fact, in the last two weeks, the only times I'm warm is when I'm in bed. Which albeit comfy is not conducive at all to getting anything done.And I am just a little resentful.


And is it just me or is this entire Post o’ Cranky extremely dull? (don’t answer that)


Before I take my aggrieved self off for the day, a couple of notifications. A year and a half ago, I won the 2007 Larry Turner Award for Nonfiction (the page is wonky, but my name used to be there) and the anthology in which it appears has just been published - if you're interested, there are a limited number of copies available. And also writerly, Laurie’s Toronto booklaunch is this Thursday at 7pm at the Toronto Women's Bookstore. If you're in town, please come on out and support her.

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