For My Frozen Friends

897tgigvib

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I will most definitely take 20 below rather than 100 above!
 

seedcorn

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Loved it! That is also why when you move North, you buy snow blowers before winter.

My wife always says " I love winter" but yet never goes out in it-except for the 30 second walk to mail box. Then comes in and says "it's cold out there", duh.......

For those that love the cold, I'll believe you when I see you out working in it. Skeptic here!
 

897tgigvib

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Wellp, in summer around here you don't much see me out on the lake during the day.

Just this weekend when a few campers were here, they were remarking how good I looked, had my health improved? No. In fact I'm hurting from 3 teeth pulled. Fact is seedcorn, it is much cooler, and I feel much better.

4 of the past 6 years here I've been the first person in the lake of the year. I mean in the water. I mean wet. I mean immersed fully. One year a kid beat me into the water so I was second. It's our version of polar bear club. Another year some city folks decided to swim to the LPR dock January 2nd. They weren't supposed to do that, but besides doggone it, they beat me into the water!

Seedcorn, when I lived in Montana and worked at the greenhouse nursery, I'd be out there pruning trees, whistling along, and my tougher than nails boss, Roxi, would come out to remind me it's 17 below..."It's nice in the sun" is what I'd answer. Sorry, no pictures of it.

True, not too many hours at a time, besides, that warm part of the afternoon only lasts a couple hours, then it gets to 25 below, and not as much sun, and too much shade. k. Time to work in the greenhouse.

Or if the wind comes up. That'll bite right through the layers, and the slightest sweat in there gets cold. Worse yet, icy wind coming off the mountains. My teeth just got cold thinking of that.

One thing i like about california though. My nose has not gotten so cold here that touching it makes it bleed. That's the pits. Always embarrassing when someone says "touched yer nose didn't ya?"

Seedcorn, my hyperthyroid makes my body metabolism work way too fast. It gets too hot too easily. I bet one of those infrared cameras could show it. Hopefully on thursday the endocrinologist will come up with a plan, or begin to.

My sister Shannon may have the photo taken of me shoveling deep snow when I was 7 at my cousin's house.
 

Chickie'sMomaInNH

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6704_1coopfeb-24-2013.jpg

last year's coop pic. wasn't fun to shovel all the snow we got, but it sure was pretty to watch it come down!
 

Smart Red

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I had a first this week. I was mowing the lawn. . . in the first snow of the season. The snow stopped before I did so that part of the yard did get mowed. Raking leaves is a lot harder with long grass HE says.

When I bought my garden tractor, I also bought a snow blower attachment. With a rather long driveway I thought that was a great idea. Unfortunately, DH feels it is harder to put the snow blower on than to shovel by hand -- so he shovels the whole shebang! Our snow plow driver once asked me how old DH was when he saw DH doing the whole thing himself. At 76, he is a marvel! Living out in the sticks, the plow can get up a good speed, but the plow driver said he always slows down when he passes our driveway in consideration for my shoveler.

Early in my misguided youth I drove to Oregon. I was the first car they let through on highway I80 after a snowstorm. The sides of the highway were filled with stuck semis and snow-covered cars. Just outside of Illinois I picked up a hitch-hicker going to Salem so we took turns driving AND paying for gas. Neither of us remembered driving over the mountains. On my way home I was about the last car they let go through the mountains before the road was closed because of a storm. I was helped by the Salvation Army branch that paid for the tire chains I needed to be allowed through. I know I can handle the snow, but I much prefer waiting for the snow plow to go through before I take to the roads.

The drivers in Portland, Oregon had no concept of winter driving where typically winter was rain, rain, and more rain. We had the lightest dusting of snow one morning and car were careening all over the place. It would have been funny if I weren't so scared for myself. I had no problem stopping at the bottom of a hill or starting back up the next hill, but those around me were not to be trusted.

Shoveling in March? I remember a blizzard in south-est, central-est Wisconsin on May Day where the snow was nearly knee-high to a tall eighth grader. Granted, that was an exception. As was the winter of 78/79 when the county stopped plowing some roads because of the huge drifts that plugged up the roads with the slightest drifting. Our road was plowed one vehicle wide for a mile at a time and we had only 5 school days in January because of drifted roads making travel impossible. I suggested laying boards and plywood over the road sides to stop drifting and let the buses pass underneath. Snow piles along the road were high enough to do it.

When I was younger I used to love the winter. The year we started building this house, we had so much snow that DH feared it might cave the sub-flooring in. Since school had been called off for the day, I decided to drive out and shovel the snow off. Once I was stopped at the road, I had to walk the driveway. The snow was so deep that I buried each leg to my hip with each step. Walking was just about impossible and I seriously thought I might die out there in the snow. I finally started using the shovel as a support and crawled -- shovel and knees, shovel and knees to the house and then back again.

Still, I can relate to Baymule's story. One year it seemed that every snowfall was followed by ice or night fog making the sunny morning scene look like a world of crystal. Each day more beautiful than the last. Of course that was NOT DH's opinion when he had to shovel the ice over and/or under the wet snow. I fear we're both getting to dislike winter. Thankfully, being retired we can pretty much outlast the weather by just staying home.
 

seedcorn

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Marshall, I truly believe there are people who LOVE winter and cold. How else can you explain people choosing to live in Canada, Alaska, etc? You are obviously one who does.

Hope your doctors can help you. That condition really took its toll on my boss.
 

thistlebloom

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seedcorn said:
Loved it! That is also why when you move North, you buy snow blowers before winter.

My wife always says " I love winter" but yet never goes out in it-except for the 30 second walk to mail box. Then comes in and says "it's cold out there", duh.......

For those that love the cold, I'll believe you when I see you out working in it. Skeptic here!


Guess I'll have to get somebody to snap my pic then! :D I really do work in it , honest! I have one customer who has a large manicured property, and even when snow is covering everything she likes to keep the pine needles from accumulating in the shrubs. She's happy to pay me to pick them out and I'm happy to do it. You just have to wear your woolies. :)

oh, and I also do plenty of the shoveling and plowing and blowing around home too.
 

Smart Red

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seedcorn said:
Loved it! That is also why when you move North, you buy snow blowers before winter.

For those that love the cold, I'll believe you when I see you out working in it. Skeptic here!
Don't be a doubting Thomas, Seedcorn. I have snow shoes, DH has snow shoes, my two youngest grands have snow shoes. We do use them to get around here! Presently, my youngest grand is taking ice skating lessons so we're both spending plenty of time in the cold already. Not exactly frigid, but cold enough when you're just standing around watching.

I've had chickens for three winters now and I've NEVER felt it a chore to tend them each morning and night. I love going outside before sunrise on a winter morning when the snow is squeaky and walking through my singing trees.

I always told my students that being cold is not cool, but "warm is cool". I was the only teacher dressed and ready for an extra recess. Yup! I really do like winter, I just don't like driving or having to be somewhere at a specific time because of the unsure weather we have here.
 

seedcorn

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I believe there are people who do love the cold. You do see them out there in it. & they don't move to places that get hot for extended months. My wife is just not one of them. She talks the talk, just doesn't walk the walk. Like her mom.....
 
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