Riding the rocket

I'm in full winter gear and riding the rocket (Toronto speak for "on the subway".) a man sitting across from me is shuffling cards. Not like a poker player - like a magician. He drops them, red and black and white spilling across the gray car floor; then struggles to collect each one. I realize his fingers are numb. This is how I learn that sleights of hand are harder to conjure in freezing temperatures.