I awoke at just about dawn to see glistening white branches out the window. They appeared to be some vision from a snow globe; well, not exactly. This arc of the globe is in reverse; we are staring at it from inside glass, not the other way around. It is -14 outside where those branches glistened; forget about the wind chill, which almost doubles the downward movement from zero.

Of course, we have a warning which basically states: YOU ARE GOING TO FREEZE.

Normally, over the years, I would be sighing and pulling on warm clothes. I might even be happy that it is not snowing or that snowdrifts are not hip high on the two vulnerable spots on my driveway. I would be delighted that there are no piles of snow on each side of my driveway entrance that tower above the car and make entering the drive something like a video game.

For some reason, I am irritated by the fact that autumn toyed with us and then laughed in our faces as it handed the baton to winter. And winter played along, greeting us with the surprise one would experience at walking out a door and falling multiple stories. Let me just say, when I finished falling, I did not make a snow angel.

I did get a new Trane furnace this autumn, beating the frantic rush expected when the temperature started to drop. So I guess I am fortunate; I’m just going to have to work on my attitude.

And, please, powers that be, don’t take this as an invitation to jinx me with all that snow I mentioned above.