Hot hands　熱い手

Ever since I was born, as I remember consciously, my hands have always been quite warm. Therefore often touch my own earlobes because they are almost always cooler. When I was very young, I often touched my grandmother’s earlobes to cool my hands down. She loved me very much but sometimes that touch was too much for her and she scolded me.

Also the soles of my feet are usually very warm. My mother said that as a baby, she carried me on her back in traditional Japaese fashion, and I very often rubbed my feet together against her back which got on her nerves. I presume however that she made me wear socks and I felt hot and so I maybe wanted to take off those socks. I would like to justify myself in not being impatient as a baby for no reason.

I do not know exactly why my hands and feet are so warm. Some people say maybe my blood circulation is quite good. But a doctor who had studied traditional Chinese medicine in Japan said that the opposite was true just like those people with a non-optimal circulation.

In any case my hands and feet still tend to be warm most of the time. When they get cold, that means that the temperature outside is really cold. Yesterday was such a day. While I was taking the picture above, my hands felt so very cold and even got somewhat red and I could not stand it any longer. The temperature was about minus 3 degrees Celsius. For me temperatures below zero are much too cold.

　生まれてこのかた、物心ついてから、ほとんどいつも私の手は熱いです。そのため、自分の耳たぶを触る癖があります。耳たぶは冷たいことが多いですから、熱い指を冷やすのです。小さかったころは、よく、祖母の耳たぶを触っていました。祖母は、この上なく私を愛しんでくれていたのですが、ずっと触っていると耐えられなくなって、突然怒られたりしました。

　また、私の足の裏も常に熱いです。赤ちゃんのころ、おんぶしてくれた母の背中で、私は両足を力を込めて擦り合わせていたそうで、凄く気に障ったと、母は言ってました。私が思うに、多分、履かされた靴下が暑くて、脱ごうとしていたのでしょう。きかん気が強かったわけではなく、暑くて我慢できない、という、ちゃんとした理由があったのだと思います。

　どうしてこんなに手足が熱いのか…私は知りません。血の巡りがいいんだ、と言う人もいます。しかし、漢方を学んだ日本人のお医者さんが、その逆で、冷え性の人と同じだとおっしゃいました。

　いずれにせよ、私の手足は熱くて、冷たいと感じる時は、非常に寒いのだということです。昨日がまさにそうでした。上の写真を撮っていた時、もの凄く寒くて、手がかじかんで赤くなっていました。氷点下3度だったそうです。この私でも、氷点下は寒すぎました。

Picture by Yuka Simeno, December 26th at Lake Neusiedl