It's all relative

We're closing in on the end of winter (spring starts next week - when did that happen??), which means that in theory, the weather should be warming up, but in true Canberra fashion winter is making sure we don't forget the cold too soon. The mountains I can see from my house are covered in more snow than I've seen all season.

For my friend's birthday last night, a few of us went ice skating. While I'm not very good, I always have a good time, and honestly, it's a bit of a feat for me to enjoy physical activity, so I'm always happy to tag along. So, for two hours, five of us did rings around the ice rink. It was freezing in there - I was wearing my hoodie, two shirts, a skirt, track pants, tights, gloves and a scarf - and I did really feel sorry for the people who were just watching, because it would have been worse for them. But by the end of the night, I was incredibly warm (which I'm told is a usual effect of exercise). I ended up taking off my hoodie and carrying my coat and scarf; when we stepped outside, I could see my breath fogging up in front of me, but it felt quite pleasant outside of the rink (even though it could have been 5 degrees at most).

This lead me to think, cold, like so much else, is relative. Maybe next winter I'll spend a lot more time inside in the cold so I won't complain as much about being outside in it. But as we head into the hot Canberra summer, I have a feeling that I'll be crying out for my coat and boots sooner rather than later...