System 13

Yesterday it was pretty cold where I’m at, hovering around freezing all day. It was also quite windy. Earlier in the day, I went outside with my 2 1/2 year old son, to do something that at this point I’ve forgotten – it doesn’t matter. He was standing about 10 feet in front of me watching a cat run around in the yard (I’m not sure what got into the cat – a mouse, perhaps?), when all of a sudden, there was a really strong gust of cold wind. When the wind blew into his face, he started making a noise that was clearly trying to convey “Ow, I don’t like this!” He also squinted his face up, a facial expression that said, “What in the world is this?” I was thinking about this some more and it occurred to me, what would a 2 1/2 year old think the wind is, particularly cold wind that can often hurt when it blows in your face? They obviously can’t see the wind, so all of a sudden, there’s something pressing against them, perhaps even blowing them about a bit if it’s really strong wind; it’s cold and might even hurt some; and it’s invisible. Perhaps he didn’t think anything of it; maybe he was just more concerned about getting away from it. I guess if all of a sudden something I couldn’t see was pushing against me and hurt, my first priority would to be to get away from it. However, after that, I’d probably be curious as to what it was.  Maybe it was an invisible ogre with cold, clammy hands? Or what about a ghost with a cold touch?

Any ideas? What would you come up with for an explanation?