Sunday, January 27, 2008

Cold?

Earlier this afternoon, I looked at the weather forecast for tomorrow and saw that we would be hitting the 40s (roughly 7 degrees for you centigrade types... of which I am one, come to think of it). And I said to myself, "Oh, I could actually ride my bike to work tomorrow!"

Never in a million years would I have thought to consider 7 degree weather bike-ride congenial. But after two weeks of -7 and -14 and wind chill that kills, I suppose relativity kicks in.

And in Karachi last month I was roaming around in nothing more than shorts and a t-shirt... and the requisite undergarments. Naturally, my mother was horrified. Not at the undergarments of course... rather at the shorts... as in... let me explain.

My mother considers any temperature below 60 degrees (15 degrees centigrade) to be "freezing." So Karachi this December was "freezing." However, after almost 7 years in Ohio, Shahyan considered Karachi this December to be "pleasant" if not quite "balmy" but definitely not "freezing."

I was comfortable in my shorts and t-shirt and requisite undergarments. My mother thought I was woefully under-dressed and was going to catch pneumonia or double pneumonia or something terrible. Hence the horror.

And here I am, in Ohio again, considering a brisk morning bike ride in temperatures that are, according to the maternal scale, roughly 20 below zero (8 degrees centigrade below zero). She would be horrified if she knew. But, since I haven't posted in six months, I'm pretty sure no one, not even she, comes to this page any more. So I'll just leave this up here till someone notices.

*hums a little tune*