Ch-Ch-Changes

During my morning walk yesterday I was chilly. It was also 64 degrees when I left my house.

Since when is 64 chilly? Not that long ago - last summer in fact - I seem to remember that that temperature was comfortable. I typically wore shorts - it's wrong to hide legs like mine anyway - and a tee shirt, just like yesterday. But yesterday I was cold enough even after 45 minutes of steady and fast paced hiking that I wished I had a jacket.

Is this another of those old folks things I must adjust to?

Sixty One

Sixty One isn't cold, is it? Sixty One degrees Fahrenheit? That's not cold. That can't be cold.
Then why did it feel so cold this morning?
I checked the temperature before I left my house for my morning walk, right about six o'clock this morning. The Weather Channel told me it was 61. Ah, I thought dismissively, I don't need a jacket or a sweatshirt. Shorts and a tee will be fine. After all, it's 61.
Twenty minutes and about two miles later, despite working up a bit of a sweat, I wished I had a jacket or a sweatshirt. I stopped to pull my crew length socks up to help warm my otherwise bare legs. I pulled my Tigers cap closer onto my head.
Why would I do that? Sixty One isn't cold.
At least, it didn't used to be.

The psychology of temperature

Look, I know it's in the low 50s today and I should be thankful for that. But I'm still going to wear my big Carhartt coat because I'm still cold. Hey, even I don't get it.

You take last weekend. I was as many of you know playing in a bonspiel in Detroit. While on the ice (and it was actually warmer in the arena than it was outside then) I was wearing a pullover over a t-shirt. That was it. It wasn't even a fleece or insulated pullover either, just a nylon pullover. And I was fine on the ice. Off the ice I got so cold I put on my winter coat as we sat in the warm viewing area talking after the games.

It makes me think of those first warm spring days when it's about 63. I rush to put on shorts and a tee. But a similar 63 degree morning in July and I'm scrounging for a jacket and sweat pants before my walk. I find myself thinking about turning on the heat.

The psychology of temperature. It's weird.