Good morning everyone! It is a nice, mostly sunny, winter morning. It was 2F (-17C) earlier this morning, though with the windchill factored in, the temperature was -13F (-25C). Really, it felt almost as cold as the previous days even though it was somewhat milder. Oh well, perhaps it is just me. Cold is cold these days. If the temperature goes below freezing, which is where it will be for a long time yet, then I feel cold.

I was not affected much by the cold at one time and often went out for long walks through the forest, even when the temperature was -50F (-45C) and colder. People are crazy to go out in that kind of temperature, and I was a little crazy back in those days. Now I am just crazy. But once a friend and I went out walking at a much colder temperature. We had record cold for 5 days one January.

The temperature did not vary much day and night. But 2 days were exceptionally cold at -80F (-62C). That is when my friend and I needed to take some medication to his parents. They lived on an island on our lake and we were able to drive across the lake to the island, but then we had to walk a mile (close to 2km) from where he parked his truck. We were dressed warm, very warm, but by the time we arrived at his parent’s house, we were very cold indeed!

We stayed to warm up and have a cup of tea before heading back. We could not stay too long, however, since my friend was worried he might not be able to start his truck again. That would mean a much longer walk, not a nice thought. Off we went after warming up sufficiently, but we were once again very cold by the time we made it back to his truck. He did have a hard time starting it, but it finally got going and we made our trip back across the ice to the mainland once more.

I have done a lot of crazy things over the years, many of those things in the winter months. Winter does take up half of our year, so naturally I would find crazy things to do during our winter. And I mean crazy things. Dangerous things, would be a better way to say it. But I never gave it much thought at the time. I did not like to spend time indoors, I am an outdoor person. Now I spend most of my time indoors.

Which nearly makes me climb the walls. That is why I took up photography. Now I can look at all those wonderful pictures of times spent outdoors. It helps. I have shared some of my crazy times, but there are more yet, so now that winter is here perhaps I will start to share more of those times. What do you think? I think it is time for more coffee anyway! Hold out your cup if you want some. Have a wonderful day and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2022 Steve McLeod.