C...c...c...cold!

Oh, what a treat it was to lounge around Dupont Circle, my jacket unzipped, scarf discarded, hands ungloved, basking on a sun-drenched park bench with my cappuccino after the farmers' market this Sunday! "A girl could get used to this," I smiled to myself.

Oh, how much warmer it was than the last Inauguration, I marveled, sporting only one set of knee-high wool socks and still able to feel most of my toes by the end of President Obama's speech down on the mall on Monday morning. As he waxed political about climate change and how it would be a priority over his next term, I secretly relished the warmer-than-usual weather. Okay, fine, so it's bad for the planet, but how nice it is to not have my teeth chattering constantly, not have wind-chapped hands for a change.

"Oh, god, will this wind ever stop??" I whimpered at 8am as the 10-degree winds whipped Ollie and I around the Metropolitan Branch Trail on our way to teach at Watkins Elementary yesterday, chilled snot running molasses-like down the inside of my warmest scarf (currently in the washing machine) and toes instantaneously frozen inside wool socks and sneakers as soon as I emerged from my apartment. (What a day for the zippers on my warm winter boots to break. Figures.) Fingers numb even ensconced in ski mittens, head semi-protected by my handmade-in-Houston knit cap... bike tights, wool leg warmers, jeans, a turtleneck sweater, 2 sweatshirts, and windbreaker keeping the core of me somewhat unfrozen, at least.

Is it spring yet?