"[C]oncentrat[e] on what you like about winter (cooking, cozy indoor reading, the quiet after snowfall) over what you don’t.... 'Appoint yourself a wintertime ambassador this year... and encourage everyone around you to notice what they like about the winter as well.'... [G]et outside, to figure out the layering situation such that experiencing the Norwegian concept of 'friluftsliv,' or “'open air life,' isn’t excruciating. The Swedish author of 'There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather' (I think that sentence usually completes with 'only bad clothes') [said] 'There are some days when it’s harder to get outside than others, but I know that if I do, I’m never going to regret going outside.'... This is the sort of mantra that works on me. Every fiber of my being may disagree with it, but if I allow my brain to override the resistance, if I believe intellectually that it’s true, I’ll go out in the cold and quite possibly discover the physical and mental benefits of 'outdoorphins.' If I can take a break from my usual winter pastimes of turning up the thermostat when no one is looking and making others touch and offer sympathy for my corpse-cold extremities, there’s a different relationship with winter awaiting."
Writes Melissa Kirsch, in
"Cold Comfort/How can the perpetually shivering warm up to winter?" (NYT).
I don't need that advice. (I'm
acclimated.) But maybe you do. It's all in the mind. I mean, you have to dress for the occasion, but go outside in the cold. It's exciting. It's beautiful. I love winter!
संदेश
52 टिप्पणियां:
When I go out at dawn in 10 degrees to tend the animals, and curse the cold, I recall the passages in Ivan Denisovich about being forced to rise early with a sparse breakfast to work outside in minus 30.
Caffeine is popular in Seattle. Starbucks was founded there.
Heavy metal music (audio caffeine) is very popular in Sweden.
The Finnish migrated north independently of the Danes, Swedes, and Norwegian (Germans). The Finnish love to stay warm in steamy saunas.
Winter is fine. But the sunny beach in Cozumel Friday was better than the 35F this morning where I am today. If I’m going to enjoy the outside, I know which I prefer more.
Shorter NYT: Please adjust your wintertime lived experience.
I suppose Meade will let us know where to send flowers and condolences when you freeze to death.
It's 36F this morning in Hollywood, Fl. Wind chill in the 20s. I'm just glad I live here instead of paying a truckful of money to be on vacation here now.
The consensus is that our species evolved in Africa; homo sapiens is not a cold weather species.
always enjoy articles written by people like Melissa, who goes from a heated apt, house, to heated car, to heated work place. Roughing it.
My friend, who worked for the telephone company in Indiana had a very different take on cold weather.
After that he moved to Hawaii.
Having the ability to choose to be inside or outside is a luxury.
Over here its @55F and overcast, it will likely rain later.
Winter on the Bay of Biscay, what a hardship.
It's exciting! It's beautiful! Unless you're living in a tent on the sidewalks of New York.
Get a dog, preferably a large one. You will not be given the option of staying inside.
Intermittent Green heating and collective climate warming.
John Hiatt captures my thoughts on the matter:
https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tFP1zcsNM2qSjGxKDFg9JLOys_IU8jITCwpUSjPzCtJLSrJzE1VSMopTS0GADNzDv0&q=john+hiatt+wintertime+blues&rlz=1C1VDKB_enUS1148US1148&oq=John+Hiatt+Winter&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgBEC4YgAQyCggAEAAY4wIYgAQyBwgBEC4YgAQyBggCEEUYOTIGCAMQRRg7MgcIBBAAGO8FMgcIBRAAGO8FMgcIBhAAGO8FMgoIBxAAGKIEGIkF0gEJMTUxNjBqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:c922fc15,vid:40O6lTaVzkY,st:0
Neanderthals evolved to adapt to the cold climates of Europe and Asia. Europeans and Asians are what remain of the Neanderthal species.
I love it how people brag about their soft comfortable lifestyles, as if somehow that's better. Pain is weakness leaving the body.
White people evolved in the cold, foggy, and dark north ice age region. When they try to study gorillas in Africa or sunbathe in the tropics their skin goes all wrinkly and cancerous. See the sun and surf loving Australians.
Waikiki beach has plenty of "formerly beautiful" people who resemble brown iguanas. They don't fall from the trees, however.
I prefer a cold winter morning to a hot summer afternoon.
I've introduced my wife to the magic of down vests, which throw off 95% of indoor chills and can make any light overcoat into a parka. Layers, baby. Layers with feathers.
> If I can take a break from my usual winter pastimes of turning up the thermostat when no one is looking
Those of us who care about the planet just wear long underwear. It's amazingly effective at keeping you warm.
"I love winter!"
Alex, I'll take "Things I haven't said since I was 29" for $1000.
Actually, I love winter now that I live in South Florida. And I dread summer.
I live in suburban Philly, but went to school and worked in Cleveland. Ann mentions having the right clothing. No one here has the right clothing or skills for the cold, so this is a shock. Just like the 9 inches of snow. The city hasn't had this much snow in 10 years, they forgot how to plow. People don't have boots or base layers. My house has a heat pump, it barely works below 20 degrees. It hasn't been ABOVE 20 degrees for 7 days - so the auxiliary heat is on. Pray for me when the electric bill comes.
Dress for the conditions, don't bitch about mundane weather and appreciate that challenges make you hardy. It's the old Scandinavian sauna/cold plunge dichotomy.
Stand barefoot on the deck, wearing only your swimsuit when it's 10 degrees and you are waiting to get in the hot tub. It's so good.
It's not fun if your furnace isn't working or you are destitute, but otherwise, buy warm clothing and get outside.
Pro Tip: Deer season is over, so look for big discounts on winter hunting clothes. If a hunter can sit still, out in the cold, for three hours, it's going to keep you warm walking through the park.
One of my children sends her 8 and 6 year old daughters to a nature camp. They had a planned four week break over the holidays so they missed the extreme bitter cold but last week, on nature camp day, the 6-year-old was outside continuously for 4.5 hours, and the 8-year-old for six hours on a day when the high temp was 13. Apparently they love it.
We had all that ice last week in Dallas, basically shutting down all week although Friday was generally fine. Froze hard again over the weekend but the sun was out and with temps getting mid 50’s, folks were outside in sweatshirt hoodies and shorts. After the first couple of days, I think you just acclimate.
Be the same on the first really cold weather hunts every hear (actually a bit of a rarity as real cold usually doesn’t hit until all but waterfowl season is over) where we are bundled up in the mornings but hunting in long sleeve tees and jeans in the afternoons.
Don’t fall through ice! That would be bad!
Ten people die in NYC's frigid cold, raising questions about the city's preparedness
When I moved back to Wisconsin in 2017, I thought about moving to east Tennessee to avoid the cold. I looked at the monthly weather averages down there and quickly changed my mind. I said I'd rather put up with the week to ten days of single digit highs we get in Wisconsin than with 6 months of temps and humidity in the 90s. This last cold snap has proved me right (and I have a part time delivery job, so I'm out in the weather daily).
Here is Thoreau describing how to handle winter:
One attraction in coming to the woods to live was that I should have leisure and opportunity to see the spring come in. The ice in the pond at length begins to be honey-combed, and I can set my heel in it as I walk. Fogs and rains and warmer suns are gradually melting the snow; the days have grown sensibly longer; and I see how I shall get through the winter without adding to my wood-pile, for large fires are no longer necessary. I am on the alert for the first signs of spring, to hear the chance note of some arriving bird, or the striped squirrel’s chirp, for his stores must be now nearly exhausted, or see the woodchuck venture out of his winter quarters - Winter, Walden
The trick to handling winter like good old Henry David is right in the text there, "that I should have leisure..."
I lived 30 winters in Iowa. I never had a generator or a fireplace. I only ran off the road into a snowy ditch once and that was because I took my eyes off the road for too long. I drove right out again without stopping. Winter is not the threat southerners think it is.
One house had hot water heat with the dining room radiator low and wide enough to sit on. The bathroom's radiator was a little bit oversized; the bathroom was the warmest room in the house and you could throw your towel over the radiator so it was warm when you stepped out of the shower.
There is no pollen or mold in winter air that arrives from Alberta.
I like winter, too.
Winter should come at predictable times, last no more than 4 weeks, and go directly to a not overly wet spring, without an intervening mud season. Is that too much to ask?
Winter is my favorite season. The world is asleep.
I'd put up with cold winters to avoid those Southern Summers. Worst experience ever is August in Memphis.
"[C]oncentrat[e] on what you like about winter (cooking, cozy indoor reading, the quiet after snowfall) over what you don’t.... 'Appoint yourself a wintertime ambassador this year... and encourage everyone around you to notice what they like about the winter as well.'..."
Fuck off.
Ocean: “ Worst experience ever is August in Memphis”
Well it’s August in Memphis
Walkin and my feet just stick right to Beale
August in Memphis
But do I really feel just like an eel
They've got catfish on the table
Swimmin in the humid air
And EMS be glad to see you
When you haven't got a prayer
But, boy, you've got a prayer in Memphis
Now Muriel plays piano
Every Friday at the Hollywood
And they brought me down to see her
And they asked me if I would
Do a little number
And I sang with all my might
She said
"Tell me do you got heatstroke chile?”
And I said "Im a baked ham tonight"
August in Memphis &c. - CC, JSM
It's great fun ... until the slip-and-fall.
"Appoint yourself a wintertime ambassador this year... and encourage everyone around you to notice what they like about the winter as well.'..."
Thoreau appointed himself "Inspector of Snowstorms"
He gazed up at the enormous clouds. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark cold. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Winter."
"Winter should come at predictable times, last no more than 4 weeks, and go directly to a not overly wet spring, without an intervening mud season. Is that too much to ask?"
It's true! It's true! The crown has made it clear.
The climate must be perfect all the year.
A law was made a distant moon ago here:
July and August cannot be too hot.
And there's a legal limit to the snow here
In Camelot.
The winter is forbidden till December
And exits March the second on the dot.
By order, summer lingers through September
In Camelot.
Camelot! Camelot!
I know it sounds a bit bizarre,
But in Camelot, Camelot
That's how conditions are.
While I agree with the idea we should all find gratitude where we can, this sounds a little like "It's just a flesh wound."
That's all great... for about a month. I'm the ambassador for summer. Even when it's far off, I'm telling people stuff like "every day gets longer from here on", or "it's getting 10 degrees warmer every month now." I don't get a lot of thank yous for that either.
The only good thing about going out in the cold is that it feels so good when you come back inside.
“It's exciting. It's beautiful. I love winter!”
Sounds like Stockholm Syndrome to me.
I love ICE.
The PGA has somehow managed to schedule its Fed Ex Cup playoff series ( a big deal--the winner gets over $30 Million) for the last 3 weeks in August.
In Memphis
St. Louis
and Atlanta.
Who says golfers ain't tough guys?
(Just about everybody, but that is a pretty miserable stretch.)
“Those of us who care about the planet just wear long underwear. It's amazingly effective at keeping you warm.”
“Stick to your long johns until your long johns stick to you” - Old Farmer’s Almanac
A campaign to show support to police ( except for Minneapolis chief./ political hacks in law enforcement who should be banished) and ICE should happen.
@Meade: Who says golfers ain't tough guys?
Football players are just about as tough. The Super Bowl has been held in mostly warm places for 50+ years:
Rank City State Times Hosted
1 (tie) Miami Florida 11
1 (tie) New Orleans Louisiana 11
3 Los Angeles/Pasadena California 8
4 Tampa Florida 5
5 (tie) Phoenix/Glendale Arizona 4
5 (tie) Atlanta Georgia 4
7 (tie) Houston Texas 3
7 (tie) San Diego California 3
https://surprisesports.com/nfl/super-bowl/super-bowl-locations-by-year/
"The Super Bowl has been held in mostly warm places for 50+ years:"
The Stanley Cup Final has been played ON ICE every year since its inception.
So there!
“It's exciting. It's beautiful. I love winter!”
Wait right there. I'm going to get a 2x4.
Sunlight in winter is beautiful, as is the way snow settles on tree limbs. But the anxieties of winter outweigh the beauty. Uncertain roads and travel, the fear of losing power and heat. I look forward to spring.
Unless it's too cold. Then send Meade to make the morning photos.
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