The end of January.

The end of January is just the worst time of year that there is. It seems, calendrically speaking, like we're at least half-way through Winter, and one might reasonably think that Winter might ease off a bit after the half-way mark. The days have been getting longer since Christmas, after all. But no. No matter how mild the Winter has been, February is like sitting in the North Atlantic. No matter how bad the Winter has been, February is worse. February, in fact, is so traumatically cold that we erase our memory of it every year. The end of January is when all those freezing memories come rushing back to us, along with the very real reminder of what's about to happen.

My, but it's nippy out there tonight.