WHEN IS THE SUN ICE COLD?

When it shines at severe angles off snow. When it blinds you with reflection. When you ask that question and get that icy response. When you ask that question and get silence or only a stare.

When your breath clouds or fogs the brilliance. When it cannot melt the driveway frozen rain that won't allow your car to make the climb necessary to negotiate the hill. When the wind that has blown all clouds away warps your eyes with its sting and blocks your vision.

When, like Dr. Zhivago, your facial or headcovering hair is frozen stiff. When you're bathing it the glow and with uplifted face, you catch a snowball's direct hit.

When you first get into your car and turn on the defrost as you ready yourself to remove the remains of the night's freezing rain, glazed and hardened, on your windshield.

The joys of a Northern or Midwest Winter.