Down to Zero

I woke in the still dark this morning (after hitting snooze once or twice) and pulled myself out of bed to let Pasha (the puppy) out for her morning ablutions. Cold air slapped me in the face before I could get the front door closed. When I checked the thermometer outside the mudroom window, I knew. Winter is now really, really here. That gauge read 0, and when I finally got the kids into the car to set off for school, I watched the car thermometer plummet--the low was -2.
This is the cold I remember loathing when I lived outside of SoCal before: the kind of bone chilling, skin freezing, inescapable assault; the stuff that makes you think you may never again be able to expose skin to air without feeling in danger of being immobilized.

Both kids asked if we could have a fire when they come home from school. No doubt.