The cold! The cold!

When I woke up this morning, it was 10° outside! Ten! That's like -12° Centigrade! Or Celsius, or whatever we call it these days.

I don't know how "warm" it got during the day, but now it is 15°. Before now, the coldest it's ever been here in my lifetime is 12°. I'm pretty sure my previously thriving bush of flowering daphne is done for - the leaves look as bad as the fuchsias.

By the way, for the past year my mom insisted that she was 78. She was in fact 75. For some reason, this especially irked me, and I habitually corrected her, which she did not appreciate. Her birthday was November 11th, and I hadn't heard her mention how old she thinks she is now. I was curious. Would she, logically, add a year and decide she is 79? Would she stay at 78 because she apparently really likes 78? Would she somehow realize she is only 76? My sister resolved the mystery for me today. It is none of the above: My mom now believes she is 80.

Update, Wednesday 7:52 a.m.: Now it is 9°! Or rather, it is officially 9° - our family thermometer says 3°.