Dressing for the cold- a reflection

I'd forgotten how laborious this is.

Thick trousers and leg warmers, vest, thermal top, warm shirt, first fleece, second fleece then the windproof jacket--6 top  layers in all. Finally heavy shoes or boots and two pairs of gloves. It takes forever, as does disrobing.

You stand at the door and (at this age) ask yourself "was I going out or have I just come in"? The tests for this are the keys and your nose.

If the keys  are still in your hand you have just come in; if on the wall hook, you are about to go out.

Second test-touch your nose with the back of a bare  hand. If cold, you've just come in.

The Either way, it's best to check with the wife.

When you finally get out, it is so violently cold that you are convinced that there is a layer your forgot-maybe the windproof overtrousers?

This doesn't happen to Australians having a real holiday in a hotel in a cold climate, where you don't go shopping for  mundane groceries--you get whisked off in a heated car or bus to some wondrous scene of nature, safely observed through triple glazing.

Today we shopped with my cousin Valerie (who lives locally and is battle-hardened for the cold) in the charming ancient village of Amersham--well it was charming last time in full summer (see 2016). Today we carefully skirted refrozen snow on the pavements and eagerly anticipated the next airconditioned shop. No wonder the construction workers here are all Polish--their country is even colder than this.

It might reach 10 Deg C sometime this week--I can't wait!