Genuine cold, home

So how cold was it at the start of this, the, if you catch my drift, potentially warmest day of the year? At sunrise on the Festival of Saint Valentine, our venerable Taylor minimum-maximum thermometer registered minus 13, as in 13 degrees F. below zero. It doesn't get much colder than that in our neighborhood, and this daybreak saw low temperature records set throughout the Northeast, the lowest being 40 below at the weather station atop Mount Washington. By contrast, it was a relatively balmy minus 5 in Fairbanks, Alaska, so we have every right to feel smug and tough... or downright oppressed. In either case, it's absolutely frigid here, which, for lovers everywhere on the day that celebrates amour, could be seen as, ahem, a challenge. Evolution has come up with all sorts of ingenious ways to keep critters warm, from fur and feathers to natural antifreezes and counter-current circulation systems, but happy couples everywhere no doubt know a few other effective methods to raise the temperature. Bring on the chocolates, the roses, and the great dinners. Turn up the heat. Celebrate.