On a recent drive home with my brother I explained, amid a battle over the climate control, the way that I experience hot and cold. I won’t try to fluff it up for you, it’s pretty simple: Hot is a pressure, and cold is a vacuum. Maybe this is nothing new, but my brother seemed to think it was a pretty silly idea. But for me, that’s how it works. Heat presses snugly against my body, while cold pulls away. It’s a simple matter of security. It’s why I’d prefer to wear a turtle neck or a scarf than to wear a shirt with a wide or low-cut neckline. It’s why we prefer hugs and human contact. It’s why we sleep under blankets or at least a sheet even when it is warm out. It’s why we wear clothes at all. It’s that pressure against our skin. Does this ring true to anyone else?
When I am driving in the winter by myself I crank the heat up to levels others would find cruel. I love to do this to myself. I love it for the same reason that I love cooking in this bedroom where I am currently sitting. I can’t be hot enough. Cold, to me, is the same thing as floating in outer space, with that ever present pull against every inch of your body, threatening to tear you apart. Just thinking of it makes me curl into a tighter, sweatshirted ball here. Am I crazy? Is there some scientific truth to this?
The cold is lonely, that much I know is true. And warmth, naturally, is companionship.
But at this point, even those who “prefer it cool” are on tenterhooks for spring. Good grief!
Tags: weather
yeah, that makes sense. lots of it.
Posted on February 26, 2008 at 9:43 pm
I pretty much agree… I don’t know the science of it though. I guess heat leaves particles much freer for blending with the atmosphere, to be part of whats around you, cold secludes you, doesn’t let you in. Like when you use hot water to wash dishes so that it can all blend and is easier to clean.
It’s hard for me to fully conceptualize it though as specifically “push” and “pull”, if you still feel like it, you might want to elaborate on those specific terms for this, but I think I do get the main idea of it.
Even I who always defend and enjoy cold, totally agree, but maybe I precisely like that cold makes you seek, embrace and enjoy heat which you could otherwise take for granted, while the excess of heat only makes you want to alleviate some of that heat instead of actually seeking cold itself… after all, cold is supposed to be the absence of heat and not the other way around.
Posted on February 27, 2008 at 12:23 am
PS without the possibility of acquiring good, quality heat through it, I would hate cold.
Posted on February 27, 2008 at 12:26 am
Also… about the all stars, apart from the links apparently not working, i thought the snow is always whiter was genius
Posted on February 27, 2008 at 12:29 am
Oh, I fixed those links so they should work now. And I will definitely consider adding “the snow is always whiter” although I feel like a few months need to pass before a post can qualify for all-star status. Check back this spring!
I’ll also be adding some “Classics” from my much earlier blogs… ooh!
Thanks Alex for your input and scientific angle on the matter. I hadn’t even been thinking of heat as a catalyst (or whatever the proper scientific term is). To elaborate, I think the “Push and Pull” concept is just a simplified description of the various pressures. Heat, the Push, is a hand pressed gently but firmly against my neck (or any bared area), while cold, the Pull, is just short of a sucking sensation away from that same vulnerable area. It is a constant unveiling, a drifting from lack of gravity. Even a cool breeze or a cold wind against my skin, though a pressure by definition, feels like a violent pull, if that makes any sense.
Even though it’s not my personal viewpoint, I can totally understand the delight you take in seeking warmth on a cold day. I feel some of that when I come in from the cold into our warm apartment, it’s that thing where you can’t appreciate something without first being withheld it, right? Or maybe that’s just how I prefer to interpret your opinion, because I can’t bear to think that someone would actually enjoy the cold! (Just kidding). I’m sure some of the difference in our opinion has to do with the different climates in which we were raised. Thanks for your thoughts!
Thanks Rayme for reading also! You know what I’m saying, you love the scarves too! Want to take a vacation to somewhere hot? Like, today?
Posted on February 27, 2008 at 10:19 am
Of course, I would like to vacation somewhere hot…like now! (not sure if that was directed towards me)
Posted on February 27, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Oh yes, it was directed at you. Well, at the very least, how about a weekend getaway to Green Bay?
Posted on February 27, 2008 at 8:20 pm
hehe yeah, it is precisely that, appreciating heat thanks to cold instead of either taking it for granted and having it as something annoying. I would hate cold if I couldn’t get warm, I HAVE hated cold when I haven’t been able to get warm and I wouldn’t wish that for anyone, I just enjoy the possibilities of cold when you can experience what it does bring with it safely, having a refuge from cold be it feeling the warmth of the inside or of a fire, or cozying into coats and blankets while only your cheeks remind you that you must keep cozying and enjoying that heat through the cold. In general though, I ‘d say I agree with what you say and it is cool to see how you experience them both through those specific terms.
Posted on February 27, 2008 at 10:36 pm