first frozen morning in wageningen

Yesterday morning I first experienced frost-covered leg hair.

Not having appropriate stockings for the outfit I had chosen, I rushed out into the frozen morning with legs bare of anything but the cm-long hair growing on them. My first concern was the frozen bike seat - wiping my gloved hands vigorously across it only removed the white layer on top, leaving a nice thick layer of ice on the seat. No time to waste (as per usual, planning my day as if everything will go perfectly), I hop on and let my butt thaw the seat as I ride. Black skirt - no problem.

Then my hands became my primary focus as they became painfully cold. My gloves are a thin pair I instructed kealan to pick up during the marathon - discarded by a runner ahead of us. There is a large hole in the end of each index finger. I dreamt of warm gloves and kept one hand in my jacket pocket, switching hands when the exposed one became too painful. Then, stopping for a light, I noticed a white shine to my legs - the hair was freezing up with frost! A thin layer of frost covered my entire body as I biked through the thick, freezing fog.

I arrived at the conference centre and click-clicked through the entrance, breezing in while pulling off my toque and tossing my hair back. In the bathroom I wiped away the mascara that had washed off my lashes and onto my cheeks with the thawed frost. My hair in a wild mane, cheeks flushed from the cool, wet air, I felt extravagently beautiful, alive, and confident, though a world away from the snakeskin-boot-clad woman lounging in a desert that I was before leaving home. I don't think anyone could have noticed my white leg detailing past my regal demeanour and appearance.