Cambridge residents deal with bone-chilling cold

PUBLISHED by The Cambridge Chronicle

Cambridge —Zero- to 15-degree temperatures did not deter many shoppers and workers in Harvard and Porter squares Friday afternoon, some of whom likened the sunshine to a day on the beach.


“I’ve been wearing my swim trunks all day,” Maurico Orantes, a Mexican native shopping for a party, said. “It’s sunny!”


But Orantes was wearing a pair of jeans, thanks to his friend, Cambridge resident Julia Throckmorton, who said she had to convince Orantes to do some convincing before they headed to the stores. Throckmorton said she likes the cold weather, though, and she worries more about “being stylish” than keeping warm.

“I feel a chill, and it keeps me alive,” she said.



Unlike Throckmorton, others said they were from even colder areas. Beverly Morrill, a visitor from New Hampshire shopping in Harvard Square, said, “this is nothing.”

“But I feel bad for the homeless people. Usually, we see a lot when we come down,” Morrill said. “I haven’t seen many today; only one has asked me for money.”

Joshua Kampa from Minneapolis said his Under Armour, legwarmers and a waterproof Loki jacket with attached mittens kept him “balmy” as he rode his bike to Harvard Square.

“It’s awesome,” Kampa said about biking in the cold. “You’re the only person who shows up to anywhere warm. You’re stripping off layers, and everyone else is freezing.”

In Porter Square, some shoppers weren’t as enthusiastic. Two Tufts University students from Texas waited for a cab with several Shaw’s grocery bags each.

“It’s pretty brutal,” said sophomore Zach Alberts. “I don’t think we’ll ever get used to it.”



Across the parking lot in front of CVS, one woman had to call AAA to jumpstart her car battery. Ulisses Ferreira, who responded to the call, said such problems are common.

“The cold weather isn’t good for the battery, with the hot and cold water,” Ferreira said.

Nick DiDuca, manager of the Eliot Street Café Dunkin’ Donuts in Harvard Square, said many customers waited for the bus in the shop today rather than taking their coffee outdoors.

“Everyone I’ve seen looks like the kid from ‘A Christmas Story,’” DiDuca said.

Several Cambridge Department of Public Works workers were spreading salt and cleaning up the area in front of the Harvard Square T stop, next to Out of Town News, for a Martin Luther King, Jr. event scheduled for Monday.



Dave Rae, “tree climber” for the department, said he was “freakin’ cold,” but he often works in inclement weather putting up and taking down Christmas trees.

Norman Siegel of East Arlington said people he talked to about Friday’s forecast had been “terrified,” but he was worried that Saturday’s temperatures would be worse.

“It was cold, but it was livable,” Siegel said. “If it would have been windy today, it would have been a horror show.”