In response to the question : How do you feel about cold weather?
This is now quite a challenging question to even attempt to answer. Having always been someone who has felt the cold its fair to say I am not keen on it. However with the acquisition of Scleroderma & Extreme Raynaud’s I’m not a fan.
Many years ago I can remember planting icy feet on husbands back. I think at that time he wasn’t too keen on the cold either.
Yet curiously having been born during one of the country’s worse winters on record. On some level I do sort of feel an affinity with it.
Snowballs Fights
Could never really ignore the chance of a snowball fight & more lately trying to capture frozen landscapes in photos.
Still little did I know that life had a somewhat nasty surprise waiting for me in the form of a condition called scleroderma with a side order of Reynaud’s Phenomenon.
For those not in the know. This form of Raynaud’s seems to present in conjunction with an autoimmune condition.
Unlike primary Raynaud’s which tends to be limited to the winter months. This is something I now live with all year around.
Indeed I almost crave the cold conditions as at least if I am wrapped from head to toe in warm layers no one notices.
Once you start going out on a warm day with your winter coat & gloves you attract the wrong kind of attention.
I am now in possession of the most impressive range of warm gloves, thermal tops & other ingenious garments with various thermal properties.
Challenging the Cold
Currently I love going out on the back of the motor bike as again I can layer up & no one seems to notice. Somehow a heavy warm bike jacket on a warm day isn’t as odd as an ordinary coat for some reason.
It’s bizarre to think that the cold can potentially cause my hands to reach a level of numbness that renders them useless. Yet in some ways it’s easier to manage in the cold than in the warm weather because layering clothes is so much more difficult.
It’s also harder to avoid the staring & judgy questions when in a thermal top & hoodie when the temperature is high.
Over the weekend we camped in a small tent having ridden to the site on the bike. Careful clothes juggling meant my hands were fine.
Came home & was doing the chores the weather still warm & made the mistake of touching washing out of the machine & bang my finger tips started to go numb.
Marmite Weather?
So I am left with a kind of love hate relationship with the weather. The jury is still out on whether I prefer the hot to cold.
For me the battle to keep my hands from becoming numb & increasing the risk of me losing the blood supply permanently is a daily battle. I am resourceful though so currently working on many ways of trying to keep this under control.
If you spot someone who is wrapped up on a warm day maybe just try to be kind & not make them feel any odder than they already do.
Meanwhile I’m getting ready to go to the pub so the main question is what gloves to wear with my dry robe!
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