Friday, February 8, 2019

WINTER COLD SPELL

    We are in the tenth day of a winter cold spell. Our days have had highs of minus 25-25 C (minus 12-15 F) and nights of minus 30 - 35 C ( minus 25 -30 F). So I've been kind of a sissy and stayed inside most of the time.

    I got thinking about when we were little kids. We played outside most of the time in the winter. I was born in the late 30's and my young childhood was in the early forties. We didn't have much for toys. I remember a set of wooden blocks. So most of the time we played outside. The snow was our toys. There were large snow drifts . We could make tunnels, snow houses, slide down the slopes, jump off high banks or just throw snow at each other. I'm sure Mom was happy to have two little guys play outside instead of being under her feet in a very small house.

    We played for hours before we went in the house. Now I remember the clothes we wore. Fleece lined underwear. This was a suit like coveralls and it was very warm. There was a convenient opening at the back for elimination! We wore two sets of pants. We had felt boots with what was called an overshoe. ...very warm. Felt boots were boots that were made completely of felt. Mom bought the underwear and felt boots. The other clothing came in what we called parcels. People sent us clothing.
  
    Here we were probably 2 and 3.


    My point is that we played outside for hours most days.

    Now I was in the Arctic for my mid twenties. We didn't have cars so walked wherever we wanted to go. I  was outdoors when I was free. Again, I had proper clothing. I had a parka made by a local Eskimo woman. It was warm with three layers. There was an outside shell for wind. A middle layer for insulation and an inside layer for lining. And don't forget the trusty fleece lined underwear. I had kamiks with duffel liners. I don't remember being cold. We snow shoed many miles and hours.

    A nice sweater my Mom made.

    This is the parka I wore in the Arctic.
  
     Skiing out my back door.



   Up until 15 years ago I did lots of cross country skiing. Clothing had become somewhat high tech. We skied hard enough to keep warm. Ruby always had a thermometer on her back back. I remember one morning it was minus 27 F. 

    Well , this week I couldn't find my fleece lined underwear. Couldn't find my felt boots. My kamiks had been sold in the summer. I think I'm going to have to suck it up, get out there and enjoy myself and forget that I'm an old man!

44 comments:

  1. .. growing up a bit later than you in Western New York State, I reminder playing out in cold winters. Call me a sissy, you really did grew up 'Cold.' Stay warm and safe, they say that spring is right around the corner, perhaps a long corner.

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  2. You haven't been a sissy about the cold weather - you have earned your time in a warm house! This has been quite a winter for all of us though. Last year here in Missouri we had a mild winter but not this year. We've had much more snow and more below 0F temps. And this week we had an ice storm that stopped almost everyone! It's been a challenge to go to the mailbox! Stay warm and safe Red!

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    1. That's nasty weather for you guys. Keeping warm and safe is just part of us even if we're outside.

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  3. Ah, yes. I grew up in the mountains of Colorado and built snow forts and sledded and skied; but my circulation was much better in those days!

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    1. Sliding in the Colorado mountains? What a blast! We were on the level plains.

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  4. Nice memories, as a child you don't remember the cold I think. I have no memories feeling cold then. But later one when I was at Highschool in the sixties we had some very cold winters that I still remember

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    1. I don't think kids feel cold until they are very, very cold.

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  5. Hello, I remember playing outside in the snow, sledding and building snow forts even. I am wimp now and do not like even going outside in the snow. Driving is out too. Love the photos. Enjoy your day and weekend.

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  6. Our bodies change as we age, no quesiton!

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    1. Don't I know that our bodies change with age?

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  7. That's some cold temps going on. I was always outside playing in the winter. Did lots of sledding down a hill that was up the road from us. Plus I had the experience to live in Alaska for a decade and got use to the cold. No big deal as long as you are prepared and dressed for it.

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    1. The prairie where we lived was flat...really flat. You were fortunate to spend time in Alaska.

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  8. I've often said there is clothing for every situation, and if you wear it, you'll be fine out there. But not that cold! I bet your mother kept you inside when the wind blew hard on those cold cold days. :-)

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    1. Yes, we stayed inside when it was windy. The snow would ground drift...2 -3 ft. Little guys would have been lost.

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  9. I love reading about your childhood in the winters there. You remind me how we played outside in the snow all winter long in New Jersey. I had forgotten about the tunnels, snow houses, and jumping from the high banks. We didn't have snow like this every time, but when we did it sure was fun. Having the right clothing for it is the BEST!

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    1. I remember just being excited when we were outside.

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  10. As DJan suggests, there's no bad weather, just bad clothing. I think the Scandinavians came up with that one.

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  11. We've had some cold temperatures here this winter, so the trick is dressing in layers.

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    1. Yes in modern time we use layers and it works well.

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  12. Yes as a kid we played outside everyday after school and on weekends...no couch potatoes back then. You keep sending cold air this way...:)

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    1. We are in a deep freeze so it will be a week or more before I send anything better. Our parents were not afraid to let us out and out of sight. They were not afraid for our safety.

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  13. Or you could just stay inside, which sounds pretty nice in temperatures like that, to be honest!

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  14. Started dough last night and the temp is making it rise slow, maybe later today. Set it in my laundry and shut the door to hold the heat

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    1. Rising dough properly takes a super right place. We had to bake bread in the arctic. We had an oil stove and it was perfect for rising bread dough.

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  15. The only time I've experienced over -20℃ was in Canada and once nearly that in the Scottish Cairngorms. Nowadays I think it's cold if it's -5℃ but at least I have suitable clothing. I think the real challenges when I was a kid was not being outside but waking up to ice on the inside of the bedroom window.

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    1. Now housing is a whole other matter. We did not have insulation in our old house. Yes, things regularly froze every night.

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  16. Your cold spell sounds like what used to be normal here in Nova Scotia in the eighties and nineties. But no longer. Our winters have become quite mild most of the time. It's alarming.

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    1. Did I say that this could be worse? It does get colder . This cold spell is long in time.

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  17. Staying indoors if I don’t have to be outdoors is the way fir me. Of course, when we do venture for a walk to downtown, we don the requisite jackets, gloves, scarves and hats.

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    1. Proper clothing is key to enjoying the outdoors.

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  18. Yes, I remember playing outside in the snow wearing cotton jeans with cotton long johns underneath and getting totally soaked! But my siblings and I played for hours.

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    1. The cottons would not be a good set of clothing.

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  19. I have never experienced that kind of cold. I seems dangerous. But I guess if you are playing hard, or working hard, you generate enough heat to feel warm, with the right clothing.

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    1. You also get used to the cold. Our snow was dry.

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  20. I hope you will share more stories of your time in the Arctic Red. I remember my sister's time in Norway and her telling me that the winter does not keep anyone from enjoying the outdoors. Great post, I enjoyed it very much.

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    1. I have written many posts on the Arctic. I hope you can find some of them.

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  21. We spent hours outdoors when I was a kid, no matter the season. In the winter we built snow forts, had snowball fights and went skating. When I was a teenager, my friends and I were always outdoors walking everywhere or taking buses. Now I can barely tolerate the cold.

    Our winter has been crazy so far. Warm, cold, dry, wet, icy, snowy...up and down. One minute we're sliding on the sidewalks and the next we're trying to avoid flooding.

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    1. You were a typical Canadian kid...outdoors all year.

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  22. My sister and i did all those activities in the snow, too. It seemed like it took hours for my mom to get all those clothes on us. I can remember coming back in the house with my fingers, toes, and face burning from cold.

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  23. Oh dear Red this is such a lovely sharing!!!

    I thoroughly Loved these treasured images!

    I found photo of your childhood so cute and precious!
    I think you are on right side!

    I can imagine sitting inside because of extreme cold and remembering days when you were little or young and had no care how cold was outside!

    I am sure spring is around the corner to cheer you up and to wellcome you with colourful surroundings and fragrant breeze 😊
    Headfirst best wishes for your days ahead

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