PhD in Being Cold

“Hello, alright, please take a seat…

Welcome to Layering 301. A a reminder, to be eligible, you must have taken either 201 Philosophy of Cold or 225 Beyond Wool: Other Herd’s Offerings. The only exceptions are those who spent a winter semester at our Svalbard campus. Everyone in the right place?

OK. As you see on the syllabus, to be prepared for labs, come in base layers and a minimum of two pairs or socks. Do not let me catch you in cotton, so help me. The final labs will require an insulated one-piece. Details to come.”

Dedicated to Lara, a Bay Area Woman and layering expert.

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“I haven’t had that feeling again, even in love.”

It doesn’t surprise me there will be more fire, no fancy expensive reports necessary. It is as sure moths to the flame. There are more more moths now; carpets of them eat entire forests. Grey leaves.

Some people meet fire with fire: power, sales, foxes, storms, and boxes. I saw a teacher pick up a gun today.

I want to be a ponderosa. I smell like sweetness. When the fire meets my bark, I flake, impervious. Only I remain. In a previous life, maybe I walked off a cliff to give my body to a starving lioness and her cubs.