Miscellaneous

Hot and Cold

When I was younger the cold never bothered me much.  Living in New York that is a good thing especially in upstate where it can get very cold.  I would spend all day long out in the cold, cutting wood, clearing brush, making maple syrup, stacking lumber and all other manor of things that country kids do.

Having two sets of boots was a luxury we could not afford so we bought two sets of liners for our snowmobile boots and used plastic bags to keep our feet dry.  We could get up early, head to the woods, come home for lunch then go right back out again.  You went whether or not your boots were completely dry. 

When I got a little older my dad bought me a Carhartt snow suit.  I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  They resisted water and kept me warm like nothing I had ever owned.  Next came leather mittens.  Yes, mittens. Keeping the fingers together keeps them warm and happy.

Spending time in the saw-mill was no treat either.  The mill was open on one side and the big diesel engines blew a lot air around.  The last thing you needed was wind chill when it was already cold out.

I even remember a time when I swam under Montmorency Falls in Quebec while on a French club trip.  The chaperones thought we were crazy and we probably were.  The water temperature in Quebec in May is probably still in the 50’s.  We jumped in clothes and all.

Now I really prefer summer to winter, hot to cold.  I got so much of being cold when I was a kid that if I never had to live another day below 50 degrees that would be OK with me.  I suppose some of that could be due to my more “mature” metabolism.  I just do not handle the cold as well as I used to.

I prefer flip flops to boots, shorts to jeans and being barefoot as much as possible.  That is kind of tough to do in the winter.

I prefer air conditioning to heat and long days versus long nights.  I do find it ironic that I have to wear a sweater all winter at work because I am cold and all summer for the same reason.  Is there really a good reason the A/C has to be set to 70 degrees in the summer?

I also prefer getting in to a hot car versus a cold one.  If my hands were never cold again that would be too soon for me.

You will never hear me complaining about the heat.  90 degrees and humidity is just fine with me. Don’t even get me started about shoveling show and scrapping ice off the car.

One days soon my ship will come in (everyone needs a dream, right?) and I will be spending a few weeks every year down south on the beach.  That will be me walking around in the sand with the waves licking at my feet with no shoes on, thawing out from another New York winter.

My summer attire. Shorts, bare feet and green grass.