dreaming of a whitish christmas

the weather has finally decided to match the season. kind of. the temperature dropped quite suddenly last week and we are now donning winter coats and scarves, gloves and hats. it's so nice. it feels much colder than i imagined because of the ocean and all the moisture in the air. it's the kind of cold humidity that creeps down your neck and up the small of your back.

it turns out that living on the 7th floor next to the harbor, although pleasantly breezy in summer, is not ideal in winter. for some reason japan, one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, doesn't use insulation. one side of our appartment consists of two huge glass doorwalls which lead to our balcony. the other side has a hollow metal door (with no rubber stripping) that leads to the stairwell. when the wind blows, you can feel the cold air blow though the appartment. you can hear the doors rattle. you can see the blinds move in the wind.

but - i'm not complaining. it's much nicer than the oppressive summer heat and i love wool socks, hot tea, flannel pajamas and sweaters. it's definitely warmer than last year in ohio when we suffered the icestorm over christmas and had no heat for five days. i am thinking though there's a pretty good business opportunity here for all my friends in the carpentry business.

last sunday night i was bringing in laundry and saw what i thought was a little gift from the pigeons on my laundry. just as i was ready to curse, i noticed some more and then thought, "could it be?" i looked over the edge and could see snow swirling in the street lights below! i was so happy. i screamed and made poor johnny come out on the balcony in his pajamas to watch the snow with me. of course nothing stayed, but i'm hoping that we've brought the snow with us and we will get some accumulation this winter. all the locals say that it's unlikely, but we managed to bring snow to georgia six years ago on a spring camping trip, so maybe . . .