Tuesday 28 November, 2006

Secret is in the layers

ParkPakkaslumi narskuu kenkien alla.

It occurs to me that you can't say that in English, there just aren't specific words for describing the feel and sound of snow under your feet in weather like this. It's actually cold today, we were getting down to about -10 C - so I put on more layers and everything was fine.

But poor Vancouverites are having a hard time. They don't know how to walk on ice, they don't have weather appropriate clothes (no hats or gloves) and they get stressed when things don't work out like they expect them to. Me, I take it easy, reserve plenty of time and patience for moving from one place to another and smile a lot. I love the smell of snow when you step outside, the frosty bite on your cheeks and nose. Although it's colder today than yesterday, public transport was better (I guess because the roads were open now). I got into a bus no problem, and several (if not all) were running and everyone got to work today.

My biggest problem is at home - we have the heating cranked up as high as it goes, but it's freezing cold inside. This is the time when those large floor-to-ceiling windows that cover one wall of our entire apartment are not so nice feature, they make heating the place pretty impractical. We wrap ourselves in blankets and put on more layers.

Posted by kolibri at 28 November 20:54, 2006
Comments
# 1 - Taika (on November 28, 2006 11:04 PM):

An anecdote. I tried to explain the sound of actual frosty snow when trodded on when in Wales, and we got the one snow day of the year. The only reference I could figure out was that scene in the Indiana Jones film where they go through a cave filled with coacroaches and all-sorts-critters. Somehow, it was not a big sales-speech.


# 2 - Sean (on November 29, 2006 05:46 PM):

The front room of our house where I have my office set up has a big window... MAN it's cold the last couple of days, can't keep my fingers and toes warm :)

But it sure looks pretty outside right now with the snow falling.

S


# 3 - Chu (on December 1, 2006 04:55 AM):

What y'all in Vancouver need is some fiiiine 3-layer windows :).


# 4 - kolibri [TypeKey Profile Page] (on December 1, 2006 10:02 AM):

We don't need them. Except for two days a year...


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