i Now simply appreciate cold weather / ramblings re: covering up

Daily writing prompt

How do you feel about cold weather?

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Some number of years ago, I preferred the cold. I hated warmer seasons, as they all reminded me of summers spent in a condo located in the desert without AC, an unintentional exercise those who brought me into the world eventually decided was a necessary lesson in dogmatic adherence to austerity.

Some number of years later, I whole-heartedly believe that lesson was a mistake and probably the result of demons past convincing my parents that AC in a land where temperatures can go up to the hundreds was a luxury. A part of me almost wishes that my soul felt a pull toward a more ascetic way of living, in a this-is-my-calling-i’m-not-doing-this-for-kicks manner. Maybe then, all the tendencies ingrained in my being from a childhood that never was would bring me some amount of utility.

My reaction, during the summer months in my teenage years, was to pretend that it was snowing. I would lie on the bamboo floor of the living room, close my eyes, and pretend that I was in the North Pole until fall in the California had finally come in the form of temperature decreases, because rare are the trees with leaves that turn orange in the regions to the east of the city of angels. Not just east anywhere in SoCal basically.

“I hate spring and summer because you can’t walk out naked. When it’s cold you can put on more layers.” Some version of the above was repeated every time someone asked me what type of weather I preferred. Now, I simply appreciate cold weather when it arrives.

I went through an old box of hoodies and t-shirts left over from my high school years and found myself reasonably shocked at how formless these pieces were. My body is somewhere between a theatrical romantic and a soft gamine and these days, as I work on the remaining I-must-live-in-an-ascetic-manner-to-get-ahead-in-the-game-of-life programming left in my brain, I have a great appreciation for form-fitting clothing. Appreciation doesn’t do this feeling justice I’M JUST SO INCREDIBLY BLESSED TO LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE I CAN PURCHASE CLOTHING THAT MAKES MY BODY LOOK AMAZING.

Something something I feel so much joy when I wear clothing that accentuates the beauty of the body that houses my soul :D.

Happy Sunday :D.