wool

It’s damned cold outside.  I’ve never actually seen it be this cold for such a long time here in Oslo. I mean, yeah, sometimes it gets breathtakingly cold, but never for more than a couple days. But it’s been REALLY cold all week and will continue into next week. We’re talking single digits Fahrenheit.

 

As my dad says, it’s colder than a witch’s tits. (I always wondered, when I was a kid, how did he know this?)

 

Anyhow, today, I am a poster child for wool. Wool socks, long johns, heavy wool skirt, merino undershirt and cashmere sweater over that. Heavy wool coat and cashmere scarf. Wool gloves, wool hat. Wool lined boots even! Wool wool everywhere and not a sheep in sight.

 

I never in a million years, before I moved to Norway, EVER though I’d have wool next to my skin, especially in the form of long underwear. I have always been the Itch Queen and I know my mom was ready to kill me when I was little, as everything that touched my skin itched me. (I still remove tags from clothes to this day, hate that itchy scratching at my neck,)  Damn if there haven’t been improvements in the past few years and I can honestly say it ain’t the wool I remember from my childhood. It’s soft and cozy and doesn’t even itch a little bit. These wool long johns are more comfortable than my cotton leggings! I’ve even worn a wool sports bra before. That was a bit strange, but still, not itchy!

 

I still don’t want to go outside, even with a whole sheep’s worth of wool on me. It’s too cold, and if your hands are out in the open, to, say, send a text message or listen to your iPod, they hurt and burn within minutes. Everything is covered in ice and it is hard and unforgiving and unsociable outside. Everyone’s all muffled and just trying to get into the warmth. You know it’s cold when even Norwegians start talking about how cold it is. Usually they are not perturbed.

 

And to think less than a month ago I was in Thailand in sandals and a swimming suit!