I make it a point to experience extreme weather. Yesterday, we had subzero (Fahrenheit) temperatures, and, as is my wont when we get this kind of weather, I went out for a walk.
It's not a point of pride or anything. It's not about dip-shit stoic macho extreme sport outward bound wilderness braggadocia crap. I'm not going to do the polar bear club thing. I'm not going to jump into ice water naked (although I do like the rush of jumping in a snow bank from a sauna or hot tub, but only if you get to go back into the sauna or hot tub).
I'm not going to brag about being a Northern type adapted for the cold, because that's not true. Why, even Siberians and Inuits aren't really adapted for the cold. No one is adapted for the cold. You don't thrive in Arctic conditions. You don't develop an advanced culture or a rich panoply of leisure activities. You merely survive. So, bragging about going out in the cold as an extreme experience is really kind of stupid.
No, I think I do it for the novelty, and like people who go on safari in Africa, there's only the suggestion of risk in doing it. (The stupid stuff, I got out of my system as a kid). I go out well prepared, with zero or no risk to my core temperature, and even less to extremity exposure. So, aside from exposure to my face, it was a very comfy walk in subzero temperatures. It was fun. The air was fresh and super sweet. The taste buds embedded in my lungs were having a good time enjoying the minty freshness of arctic air.
I can remember when I was a kid, we'd have at least two weeks of subzero weather at this time of year. Now, we are lucky to get a day or two of it. Did I say lucky? There may come a day, sooner rather than later, when temperatures getting to near freezing may be a novelty. Then I guess I'll have to move to Finland.
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It's already feeling very spring like here and the weather prognosticators say our coldest weather is behind us. I'm no fan of winter but say it isn't so.
ReplyDeleteI think it's so. We haven't had a real snow up here in Chicago, yet, and it doesn't look like we are going to get one (year 11 of the decade long drought). So, I guess that's it. I guess we are done with Winter, all signs to the contrary.
DeleteIf I'd read this a couple days ago, I would have envied you, but your cold air has drifted over here. I normally like weather extremes and sudden changes, but then that's the way New York weather usually is. Now, I must be getting old. I just came back from the supermarket, which is not more than 100 yards away, and I didn't like it. I find I don't like the very hot days either. I took pride in not having air conditioning, but I caved in on that two years ago. Just when we can least afford to churn out more electricity, I get soft. And this month's electric bill -- it was 20% higher than last year for the same amount of juice.
ReplyDeleteWell, you know Chicago is not exactly Novosibirsk, so we can't even brag about how cold it is. But, if you really, truly want to feed that envy, Barry, I know a nice place in North Dakota, and on the plus side, what with the Bakken Field natural gas flares, you can get your energy cheaply and hardly need light to read at night!
Deletehttp://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/11/20/1038423/-Speed-Orbiting-above-a-Nighttime-Earth-The-Discovery-of-a-Mystery-City