The Baghdad Chill

The strangest SHIVER can grip you here. During the winter in Baghdad, when you are inside where it is warm (or at least not too cold), you're suddenly overwhelmed by a chill that goes so deep, your body vibrates.

It rarely happens outdoors. And it makes absolutely no sense.

I get it sometimes several times a day. Others do, too. Iraqis laugh at the "Baghdad Chill" but they know exactly what you mean when you say it. Or at least they pretend to. You are, after all, speaking in American English.

The only solution is to dive into a bed (if you can find one), pull up the covers and turn up the heat.

And then it is gone.

It is cloudy and cold again today. I walked the dogs, but we steered clear of electrical lines popping out of the ground.

There was a lot of gunfire and several large explosions this evening. There were four big blasts in the space of about five minutes.

Our TV crew went with the military to rescue a famous doctor trapped, along with his family, on Haifa Street afer last week's operations. They are safe now. But it's likely many others are not.