Valladolid

These photos come from very far back in my archives. Back when my mom was here for a visit in January. And back when it was cold. Very.Very.Cold. Growing up in L.A. all of my life, cold was 65 degrees. When it was 50, out came the gloves and the "heavy" coat, for that rare one weekend a month. So interesting how your definition of cold changes when you don't live in L.A.

Cael was so cold that he even wore a scarf. And he hated wearing scarves.

And I wore a hat and scarves. I hate hats, which give me hat hair. But it was that cold. Remember, mom? 

I don't think my boys had ever worn/had actual winter coats before. A sweatshirt had always been sufficient. But for at least 6 months, nobody stepped foot outside without at least their heaviest coat on and probably hats and gloves, depending upon how long you were going to be outside. A quick dash to the car only required the heavy jacket.

By the way, these photos are from the city of Valladolid. It's a very cool city about an hour and a half away from our city. This city is about four times the size of ours and is actually the capitol of our state.  Fun facts to know!

Can you see how cold it is? This photo just makes me feel cold looking at it. But let me stop here and say how much I love the weather here in León, Spain. Even though I was very unaccustomed to the cold after living in L.A., where it basically has two seasons: hot and hotter, I have come to appreciate living in a place with actual seasons. When it is hot, in the 80's and 90's, I don't mind the heat because I know it's just for a short while. I can sit outside and let the heat sink into my body because just a few months back it was cold. I enjoy going outside with just t-shirts and flip-flops on because it takes 1/4 of the time to get out the door without all the bundling up that winter requires. But I also enjoy the winters and the cold because I am not that big of a fan of being hot. I actually like wearing winter jackets and garb, which is a good thing because when it gets into the 'teens and twenties, scarves, mittens and hats are no longer just a fashion accessory but necessary items of apparel. And I know that the cold will not be around forever. That's the beauty of seasons. The weather will change.

One more thing I learned this winter, that I kind of alluded to earlier, is how amazing perspective affects your definition of cold. When the weather started getting cold, it was in the 50's. And I was SO cold. I would go outside and just shiver. But that was only in November. When the 30's and 40's hit in December, ok then I thought I was cold. The 50's started to look kind of warm. And when it got down into the 20's and teens, right in time for my poor mother's visit, poor thing, did I realize how spoiled I was to live in Lala land and the perpetual 70+ degree weather. And when the 50 degree weather returned in March and April, wow did that feel WARM! Amazing how perspective changes everything!!

Oh and one night our heat wasn't working. Gus and I were sitting in our living room under our blankets, feeling cold and really wishing our heater was working. Gus looked up our current weather and it was -18 (C) outside. Man were we cold! But then Gus looked up the local weather in Samara, Russia and it was -38 (C) outside. Perspective shifted!!