I had a lovely Thanksgiving. Four days of (relative) relaxation on a 150 acre farm just outside of Annapolis. (And if anyone is interested in buying it, let me know and I'll arrange for an introduction. It's on the mainland side of the Bay Bridge. Includes a 200-year-old recently renovated farm house and several new outbuildings. One of a kind property on the water.) I don’t know what it is, but since my return to the real world, I just can’t motivate to blog or anything else. Maybe it’s the short days – although I can’t complain – my office faces south and has a huge window. More likely it’s the cold. I HATE the cold. I had to spend 13 years and two weeks (not that I’m counting, or anything) in Minnesota, and I did not acclimate well. Christmas is only 3 weeks away, and my house looks like it threw up on itself, and that’s without having pulled out the decorations yet. Next weekend Sweet Daughter and I are heading to Williamsburg to meet up with a handful of people both for me to do some fittings, and to get a muslin fit (for me!) for my riding habit.
I’m thinking a hot buttered rum and turning in early tonight might not be a bad idea.
So you're the reason all the rums gone!
ReplyDeleteI don't know how people live in the cold. Delaware is bad enough in winter.
Mike W.,
ReplyDeleteIn Social Studies I learned that one theory is that civilization began when people moved away from the equatorial zone. In coping with seasonal (that is, cold) weather, technology was born, organization of people became a survival strategy, and managing food and other resources became significant factors in community - not just personal - survival.
Essentially, where ever you live can be deadly to the newcomer, or to the resident that doesn't respect the elements and environment.
I worked 18 months in Minneapolis, MN. I recall shopping the day before Christmas some 28 years ago. The mall parking lot was full, traffic on the highways was moderate, and the day bright and sunny. The bank sign across the way said -35, -59 windchill. The lack of breeze and sun kept the day bearable. You dress appropriately.
In Arizona the heat could easily be as threatening. Or Florida. Horses, and people, too, can overheat when the temperature in Fahrenheit plus the relative humidity gets above 150. That could be 120 temp and 30% humidity in Phoenix, that could be 100% humidity and 50 degrees somewhere else.
Indigenous wildlife and local practices make respect for the human and natural environment a good survival tactic.
In cold weather you get to go ice fishing, once the ice gets to three to six inches thick. More that four or five inches, and you get folk driving their truck or car out on the lake, chopping a hole, and dropping a line. The devoted may choose to rent or build an ice shack to tow out, to make the expedition even more enjoyable. Ice-caught fish are just as much fun, and the taste can be quite different.
You dress different for different degrees of cold, and usually the local stores sell mostly appropriate clothes. Florida may still have swimsuits when all you can find in MN is flannel shirts and seriously cold-weather hooded parkas and coats.
It is a matter of learning the environment, what works for the folk living there, and "choose wisely, Grasshopper".