feels like minus 15° when calculating into the equation the wind-chill factor

early morning:

the young meteorologist

has an announcement to make.

she says it’s cold out there.

It’s an old house built in the '30s.

new storm windows were added in 2011,

but the insulation is sub-par. she says it’s worse than cold

because she's calculating into the equation the wind-chill factor.

It’s not just the cold, but the wind-chill factor.

when the wind comes in off the Bay at, let’s say,

20 knots, it dilutes the inside heat of the furnace.

It’s a tepid heat on its own, but accompanied by

the wind-chill factor it feels like -15° like she said.

It’s the combination of temperature and wind-chill factor

which overpowers the furnace; the big, fat metal-green

contraption squatting down there is cranking like a Model T,

and its gas is hissing down there. I can hear it up here.

blue flames ignite, and strengthen, straining to achieve maximum output.

It seems constipated.

In the kitchen, the oatmeal thickens rapidly.

If I sit here, my left side is colder than my right side.

If I sit over there, my back is colder than my front.

If I sit on the toilet, both hemispheres will come to know the wind-chill factor.

early afternoon:

the young meteorologist hasn’t changed her mind.

she says it’s cold out there.

she says to bundle-up. she advises the layering of lighter clothing.

feels like minus fifteen she says like a cracked 78 rpm.

she looks fantastic, but not so much that it warms the interiors.

she palms the digital radar map with a clean sweep, tapping the information

she knows I'll need, what with the cold and the wind-chill factor.

she's emphasizing high and low pressure developments.
precipitation intensity is noted by color ranges from yellow to green to red.
the radar imaging proceeds frame by frame in near comic sequence, but

the intensity of the colors is convincing, and my position on the map

is deep red which the young meteorologist is telling me is not a good thing

considering the cold, and calculating into the equation the wind-chill factor.

first writ: Swansea, early March, 2017.

jazzed-up: Fall River, mid December, 2022.