A Question for the Snow-Bound
Comfortably miserable. Yes, that about sums it up. The wind chill is a meager 4 degrees outside, the wind is howling and beating my truck around. But inside, I am running the heat and relaxing with a cup of coffee, some off-brand cookies, and a Bill Buckley book. I'm comfortable amidst the misery, which I might as well be since the road and weather conditions have me "stuck like chuck" (to use my daughter's favorite phrase), at this little gas station.
But watching the snow blow by, the cars slip and slide, the people lower their heads and lean into powerful gusts of blowing snow, I keep asking myself why? The people here are friendly. They offer a smile and a greeting to this stranger. But I keep hearing the words that Jeff Dunham's ventriloquist character Walter offered to a Wisconsin audience during February: "Hellooooo. The borders are open! You can leave!"
So to folks like Duane, or James Lileks, and any number of warm hearted people who don't just travel through these conditions but actually live and thrive in them: How do you do it? And why do so many people choose to do so in weather so cold that hurts?
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Re: A Question for the Snow-Bound
Peter, I agree with you about the heart-warming feeling of that first touch of Spring. Likewise, I like that first bracing cool breeze of Fall after a brutal summer of sweating like Bill Clinton under oath. It's that first reprieve from extreme temperatures that lifts the spirit, yes?
Aug '10
Re: A Question for the Snow-Bound
Duane Oyen:
I could do my job anywhere- say, Southern Mississippi- with a broadband line, laptop, scanner, and printer. I would take less money for the privilege of doing so. My employer is not terribly flexible- they trust me, but are afraid of envy elsewhere in the office, so we just grin and bear it.
Hubby's in a similar situation. He's more productive working from home, not the office, but his company just banned remote work for everyone anyhow. So we're still stuck somewhere in the Great Lakes region, near my crazy family, and all the snow.
I like the snow, actually -- except for driving in it. Driving aside, I'm still like a little kid, looking forward to the first snowfall. I even like shoveling it (except for the back pain afterward -- and I'm only in my 20s -- oy!).
I especially like cross-country skiing. It's not as glamorous as downhill, but a heckuva lot cheaper -- used equipment's practically free at garage or rummage sales -- and you can do it pretty much anywhere there's a sizable uninterrupted patch of snow.
Also warming: flannel pajamas, space-heaters, hot drinks, a loving spouse...
Nov '10
Re: A Question for the Snow-Bound
The big storms can be pretty terrifying. But when nature has thrown everything she's got at you, and the storm's spent, and the skies clear, and you walk out and see the whole world blanketed in white, pristine and quiet, well then, life seems pretty good.
But of course that's before you start shovelling :)
Re: A Question for the Snow-Bound
I'm here in blizzard country largely by marriage. That said, as much as I miss my ancestral D.C., I'll take the winters here over the summers there any time.
Aug '10
Re: A Question for the Snow-Bound
It's probably safe to assume that Dave Carter will not be appearing in any future episodes of the History Channel's 'Ice Road Truckers'.
And speaking of the History Channel, has anyone else noticed how they seem to have abandoned history? How sad.
Nov '10
Re: A Question for the Snow-Bound
You pick your poison when it comes to the weather where you live. Don't enjoy blizzards, go live where blizzards are called floods.
Personally I see it as a bulwark against environmentalism. Too many people in LA start to believe that Mother Earth loves us and will take care of us. The rest of us in the Great North (or tornado-ey Midwest) understand that Nature is trying to kill us, and we like to have our climate-controlled defenses ready.
Re: A Question for the Snow-Bound
Nordman, back in 2007, I had a delivery in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. As my usual run of luck would have it, my arrival at the Mackinaw Bridge that crosses Lake Huron coincided with that of a winter storm. The authorities stopped me at the base of the bridge and would not let me cross except with a police escort, at no more than 15 mph, to lessen the chance of being blown off the thing and into the lake, which was frozen over. Of course, such a slow speed gave me a chance to snap a few photographs, which I then lost. But from the bridge, it looked like the waves had just been frozen in motion. It was beautiful, and about as close to the ice road stuff as I care to get.
May '10
Re: A Question for the Snow-Bound
What keeps us here is that we were born here and learned to love what it has to offer. It's when you get 22 inches over a 24 hr period that everyone begins to question it. What keeps us here is ice fishing, snow sking, winter hunting, snow ball fights, and the potential opportunity for more snuggling w/your sweety because it's so danged cold. Key word in last sentence is potential. Yesterday I was snow blowing in 10 degrees w/lots of sun shine and very little wind. It was gorgeous out. Seriously it was. Give me lots of sun w/no wind and I can handle almost any cold temp.
May '10
Re: A Question for the Snow-Bound
1) King- I took a great somersault spill on a slippery sidewalk (at dark 5:45 AM, in February cold, while running) 2.5 years ago, which stretched my right hamstring so much that the semitendinosis tendon is still a bit loose. Fortunately, after a year off (speedwalking to US Army PT standards) I was able to run again- but I never went out on bad tracks after that one.
2) Kenneth- my grandparents (both sides; I'm an AKC-registered purebred) emigrated to the US from Norway, and the weather and general life here, compared with the hardscrabble existence in, say, Trondheim, is almost tropical and utopian. Also, many of the people here had ancestors who came for the farm homesteading in the late 19th century. Think Laura Ingalls Wilder.
I will admit that I do not carry the burden of any such sentiments. They can keep their weather, their collectivist politics, Gro Brundtland, rakefish, and lutefisk.
Edited on December 13, 2010 at 8:42pmMay '10
Re: A Question for the Snow-Bound
Midget Faded Rattlesnake I especially like cross-country skiing. It's not as glamorous as downhill, but a heckuva lot cheaper -- used equipment's practically free at garage or rummage sales -- and you can do it pretty much anywhere there's a sizable uninterrupted patch of snow.
Also warming: flannel pajamas, space-heaters, hot drinks, a loving spouse... · Dec 12 at 8:11pm
Hmm. I went CC skiing once, and I was bored to tears. I'd rather run while towing Dave's truck, like Jack LaLanne, than do that again.
But we have a very cozy room downstairs with good sound and video projector, an air-tight wood stove, very comfortable chairs/footstools, and a daybed couch. The loving spouse deal kind of makes that perfect. The other night we watched Der Bingle in "White Christmas" on the 7 foot screen while the wind howled outside and the puppy burrowed in next to Rubber Duckie.
The problem, of course, is that you do eventually have to go outside.
Re: A Question for the Snow-Bound
Duane, if my truck ever needs towing in Minnesota, I now know who to call. Thanks!
Aug '10
Re: A Question for the Snow-Bound
Kenneth
: "Cadillac Desert".
Very good series on TV as well.
Cold winters, perfect springs, hot summers, colored falls, rinse , repeat.
There is something absolutely beautiful about every day, everywhere . Peak experiences are going to self-regulate anyway.
Watching the cycles and all it's players is very worthwhile. Plus cheap houses !
And then's there family, friends, etc.
That's why I rent on vacation, pack lightly, and my kids have all out-traveled me . You can go anywhere and Thomas Wolfe was wrong.
Aug '10
Re: A Question for the Snow-Bound
Duane Oyen
Midget Faded Rattlesnake I especially like cross-country skiing. · Dec 12 at 8:11pm
Hmm. I went CC skiing once, and I was bored to tears. I'd rather run while towing Dave's truck, like Jack LaLanne, than do that again.
Well, running bores me to tears, so I guess we're even.
May '10
Re: A Question for the Snow-Bound
I pretty much hide inside from the cold and get used to starting my vehicle to let it warm up. The only thing I really, really miss is golf, but to be honest, I'm not 100% sure I could play every day, 12 months a year without getting burned out. With only 5 or 6 months a year to play, I can dedicate myself to improving without worrying that it might be totally consuming my routine.
On a day like today, with the wind out of the South and a degree or 2 above freezing, it melts a lot of snow here and feels almost tropical. Chinooks are admittedly a poor substitute for decent weather, but I'm sure it will all melt and then turn green in the spring.
I also really enjoy the rural lifestyle, with camping and rodeos and jamborees to look forward to.
I'm not ashamed to admit that skirts and tank-tops look a lot nicer on the other 51% of the population after 6 months of toques and parkas.
Jul '10
Re: A Question for the Snow-Bound
So you say, but I can assure you that the hot air in question does neither the residents nor the Republic much good.
Edited on December 20, 2010 at 12:03am