There's the kind of cold that's cosy and beautiful, the type of chill that's just present and totally bearable. You can play in the snow, go without mittens and hats, and you can actually breathe in the fine winter air.
And then there's the Alaskan cold that comes on every winter, the kind of cold that quite literally freezes your boogers, ices your hair, and feels like prickly needles on bare skin.
This week, we've had the latter of the two, and while its expected every year that we go through the below zero cold spell, it nonetheless surprises me and takes its toll on my unhappy (and often underdressed) body.
I bolt from car to building, layer my skin in fur, cashmere, and merino wool, and suffer the few seconds I'm forced to breathe in the frigid air, thinking of all the things that could possibly warm me up.
A dip in the hot tub (an evening tradition as of late), wrapping myself in the bison or bear blanket when I get home, curling up in front of the fire, or my favorite: enjoying a hot cup of coffee.
See, the magic with coffee is that it not only warms up your hands, but it warms up your heart. The second that hot liquid enters my system, my body flushes with heat and the goosebumps slowly disappear.
It reminds me of the olden days when my mom used to pick me up from school. I would get in the car after another day spent inside the classroom, like ten years old, and I would say to her: I'm cold.... on the inside. And that was her cue to take me to the nearest coffee shop!
It's the same to this day.
My mom and I were running errands in town, sprinting from place to place, and when the cold became too much for me, I hinted around that I needed something to warm up my insides (ie coffee).
Some things just never change!