California Dreamin'

Colder than Siberia!

It was -2°C (28°F) here in Johannesburg last night. Ag nee man! Dis te koud! I see on the Internet that in California, San Jose has a low/high temperature of 15°–27°C. Hmmm...

All the leaves are brown, and the sky is gray...
California dreamin', on such a winter's day.

Today, Johannesburg is 7°C (13°F) colder than Durban. Heck, Johannesburg is even colder than Siberia! The low/high temperature today is 4°–15°C: in Tomsk, Siberia, it is 17°–31°C. The coldest temperature in Tomsk is two degrees hotter than the highest temperature in Johannesburg!

You don't know how lucky you are, boy,
Back in the U.S.... Back in the U.S....
Back in the U.S.S.R.!

But we're never satisfied, are we? A month ago I was complaining about the 40°C (104°F) heat in Kolkata. That's why the analogy used in verse 2:14 of the Bhagavad Gita is so apt:

matra-sparsas tu kaunteya
sitosna-sukha-duhkha-dah
agamapayino 'nityas
tams titiksasva bharata

"Happiness and distress, like the appearance and disappearance winter and summer, is transient. Since they are all due only to sense perception, you just have to learn to tolerate them."