It's funny how people can have such varied perceptions on temperature. I was talking to a fellow (Frank) I work with today about it. He was born in Costa Rica, and has lived in Canada for...not sure, a pretty long time, 10 years maybe? Anyhow it was -26 outside, and it was being complained about on the radio, people at work were going on about how damned cold it was. I mean, I'm certainly not going to say -26 isn't cold, because it sure as hell is. I was feeling pretty bloody chilled - probably because I was wearing only a t-shirt.

So Frank and I were talking about the cold, and what it can be like where I come from. That is to say, I come from the north. At least, relative to Waterloo (and certainly Costa freakin Rica), I come from pretty far north (Fairview, Alberta - look it up on a map). Anyhow, I simply talked about things that were normal during winter - walking to and from school for half an hour (1km - 4 trips a day) in anywhere from -10 to -55 (I'm factoring in windchill here. Oh, and for you Fahrenheit junkies -10'C is 14F while -55'C is -67F). By the time you arrive at your destination any exposed hair is covered by ice, everytime you blink your frozen eyelashes stick together, and it takes an effort to reopen the eyes. Any day that my eyelashes didn't freeze, I considered a nice day. Frank on the other hand found this absolutely amazing. The great thing is I didn't even have to embellish whatsoever.

I suppose that means he wouldn't have gone out to play hockey with us last week when it was -40?

But one has to be honest with oneself. If I had lived in a milder climate, then it would be equally intolerable to imagine such extremes as well. I was watching the news from Boston the other day, and couldn't help but find myself incredibly amused by the "DEEP FREEZE" they were suffering, and how incredibly cold it was (-7F, -22C) and how it was going to get even more mind-bendingly cold (-17F, -27C!!!!). I just laughed and called them wimps. But hey, for them - that's pretty chilly. Guess I gotta put things into perspective.

We northerners love to make fun of those less hardy than us, even though we secretly wish we had a warmer climate (but not too warm, because we looove our winter sports and activities). Also, just think, if all the pansies were as hardy as us, then who would we be able to make fun of?

INotD: Cock-knocker.

~K