she uses tangerines...

i suppose i am fortunate to live in a place where the winters are relatively warm. but it's hard to keep that in mind when i'm feeling cold. there's a rather large temperature difference between the inland places and the coastal ones, however. right now it's the beginning of tangerine season. if i drive about eight or ten miles west i'll inevitably run into citrus groves. frosts are rare there. they experience the stereotypical californian winter. but frost (wicked bad frost) is just a step or two away on my side of the mountains. and snow sometimes, too. i haven't got an exterior thermometer but the current outdoor temperature can be summed up thus: cold as a witch's tit. and the indoor temperature isn't much more inviting. i've just finished eating a perfect little tangerine and i feel a little strange. somehow incongruous to be eating something so tender and feeling so cold. odd to know there are tangerine trees eight or ten miles away spangled with fruit.

it's nothing to compare with iowa or maine, montana or new york, i know. but i'm really not complaining. i love winter. cold weather is fine by me. it's finer with fire, though. finer with more efficient heating. if you have an empty, warm attic, i'd be glad to overwinter there.