Relatively Cold? Or Biting, Numbing, Stinging Cold???

Every morning, first thing I have to do is take little Charlie out. He's an indoor dog, so obviously by morning he is a bit anxious to go outside. Whatever the season, whatever the weather, that means getting out of a nice warm cozy bed, checking the thermometer, then dressing accordingly for our little morning trek outdoors.

This time of year, what I need to know is; is it cold, really cold, or frigidly cold?

While experiencing my first few weeks of winter here, as a recently transplanted California girl, cold was just cold, meaning anything below 40 degrees F was COLD! Now, having acclimated a bit, I am able to detect minor differences in degrees of coldness. Anything 25 to 40 is relatively warm, believe it or not; no hat or muffler needed (although I always wear gloves). 10 to 24 is gettin' a little cold, and single digits or less means cover the face and head, or the nose and ears will hurt.

Anyway, this morning I did not need to look at the thermometer to know that it was COLD out there! When I looked out my front window, I saw the wintery scene in the photo above. It was winter wonderland-feeze-your-butt-off cold. It was 9 degrees.

Charlie didn't care, by the way. He just wanted to make yellow snow.