how quickly I forget

Three years having passed since I last lived here, four since my last winter in Minnesota, I had forgotten what five degrees feels like. I had forgotten how the cold turns a four block walk into an odyssey and a nearby diner into an oasis of warmth.

No longer do I forget. And now as a homeowner, I cringe a bit ever time my furnace clicks on, sensing the dollars fleeing my wallet for the gas company’s coffers.