J
anuary is upon us and a great chill is
about us. Might I bid you draw near
to the campfire, for I have much to
tell you? Alternatively, walk briskly
with me to the top of yonder hill, and
we shall talk there. Or, if it isn’t a
little forward, grab a towel and I shall see you
anon in the sauna. I have no preference – the
transformation is the thing; the singular sense
of wellbeing that arises from leaving behind
cold to become enfolded in warmth.
One freezing January, I took a two-hour drive
out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, heading for
the volcanic Jemez mountains. There, beneath
a starry sky so vivid I felt I could reach out and
wrap it up, I took a stitch-less plunge from
snow-covered forest f loor into a hot spring,
bubbling away at 39C. An indelible memory, yet
the thrill – that clash of delight and relief as
one’s temperature transmutes from blue to red- is far from dependent on geothermal energy.
There’s bedding down in a campground on
the outskirts of Newbury, for instance; though
the heavy snow might not have paid attention to
my remonstration that, for the love of God, it
was the middle of April, its presence
nevertheless heightened the bliss of climbing
out of the cold and into the sleeping bag
(memories of morning time, making the
manoeuvre in reverse, need not detain us here).
The joy of calefaction – the act of making
warm – is written throughout our lives: traipsing
up to the back door, schoolbag dragging through
slush, stepping into the solace of a steamy
kitchen; a hesitant walk alongside a new love
on a frosty evening, nerves and shivers melting
away in the glow of the first embrace; visiting
a seaside resort in winter and appreciating the
apricity – the warmth of the sun in winter – to
be found in a glazed seafront shelter.
We’ll talk more of beachfronts shortly. In the
meantime, though, the temperature has taken
a turn for the Baltic and I could really do with
talking the chill out of these old bones. Here’s
a handful of ideas for kindling some heat.1 Nothing to lift your
spirits like lifting some
spirits in a cosy pub.(^2) If time (or money)
won’t allow you a break
in the tropics, a day trip
to a tropical glasshouse
will warm you through.
(^3) Getting naked in
winter suddenly seems
more appealing in the
glow of a sauna
»
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