There's so, so much ground to cover in this story. On some level it makes sense that Will would quit his job and leave his stalled-out relationship in one fell swoop, but I feel a little guilty at the tidiness of it all. I was steering OP to its end for a very long time - it took years, really - and I did need to find momentum in places.
We've just about hit these cold spring days right now, in the northeast. You might even imagine having this sort of conversation with a neighbor today, from a safe distance. Sweet, pleasant contact with someone who knows what you know. But the barricade is implicit. When they're gone, you are alone again; you are relieved.
10 thoughts on “#766 – fifty degrees”
Katherine
As a Texan, I could never figure out if a fifty degree morning was supposed to be relatively warm or cold to New Yorkers. But I assume that the weather in this page was finally warming up, and spring had arrived??
Matt Bixler
It hasn't, but it should have by now, so we're all going to pretend that it did.
john
When it's 45 in October I'm wearing a parka. When it's 45 in March I'm wearing a hoodie over a long sleeve t-shirt.
55 is warm because it is warmer than 45.
Rebecca
It's warm compared to winter so everyone is excited (but it's still cold enough that they're shivering in their t-shirts).
Rimwolf
When it gets down to 50 in the fall, it feels cold; when it gets up to 50 in the spring, it feels warm. (I live near Boston, but New York's climate isn't dramatically warmer.)
Andy
The coldest day of the year is the first 50° day of the fall, and the warmest is the first 50° day of the spring.
cwbuecheler
I grew up in upstate New York, where "waiting for the school bus in the pitch black in 8 degrees F cold, not counting wind chill" was a thing that regularly happened during January and February. On the first 50 degree day in March, half the school would show up in shorts and T-shirts. 😀
Amelie W.
It's pretty funny if you aren't used to Americans and assume it's 50°C. The trees are melting! The people are shaking with shock as the protein in their flesh begins to break down! Well, I think maybe 20 years ago me could have tried to parse it that way.
Liz
I love the stubborn insistence on wearing a tshirt because spring is here, dammit!
Alison
I think about this page every single early spring 😂 specifically “it’s fun-fun-fun fifty degrees!”