Stiff Fingers

Shivering there on the couch, my fingers almost numb with cold, I understood why people say you should write about what you know.  My two main characters were hiking up a mountain in a snowstorm and my hands were stiff with the cold.  For the past few weeks, the temperatures have been hovering around freezing.  Which is really cold for this area.  The mountains in the story are colder, but that doesn't keep me from relating to their discomfort and danger.  When I described how the girls hands were stiff with cold I was thinking about how my own hands were stiff with the cold.  When she clung tight to the thick fur of the tiger I could almost feel the warmth seeping into my hands.  Now I would personally not want to do that again.  Below sixty-five is not really my idea of good writing conditions.  But, I was able to show through the words just how cold she felt because I was right there with her.  The next time they are walking in a snowstorm I can pull from these past few weeks for memories of shivering and my own reaction to cold temperatures.  I may have never walked in a blizzard, but I can easily imagine it.  The drifts pulling at my boots and the snow clinging to my eyelashes and matting my hair into snowy dreadlocks. 

I hope everyone is having a great winter and staying warmer than me.
Have a great week.
Morgan J