We are having a more normal January day. It was 4° this morning with the northwest wind still a-howling strong. I think it got up to around 13° this afternoon, with that wind still ‘on the job’. It is one of those days when I am glad I don’t happen to be working out on a lumber pile, but know I will see many such days and much colder ones, before my career is over, at least I would hope to work for many years to come yet.
There is something ‘exotic’ about deep cold, which we have not seen yet this winter, but we have a couple months left and might get some before it is over. When you grow up much further south as I did, it was only a few times that we ever reached as cold as -20° , until we moved to MN.
In our early years here, late 80’s, we came to expect a lot of nights far below -20° . I think the coldest we have recorded was -59° and I took a picture of the thermometer that morning, just so folks would not call me a liar! Cold is a relative matter. Most generally when you reach about -30° or colder, the wind just does not blow. The humidity in the air also drops, I suppose it simply can’t exist and freezes, falling to the ground as ice fog very quickly. I have always observed that when it reaches deep cold that they atmosphere does not seem as cold as it really is. Not that you want to bare you hands very long, they will stiffen up in a big hurry, nor do you want to remain motionless for a long period of time. But if one is working steady, it is not a serious matter to keep warm, once you get your blood flowing to the extremities of you fingers and toes. Then, if you keep a steady pace and don’t overheat, it is not that miserable to work at -30° .
Some things about cold that many people don’t know. One is that a match, unless kept in a warm pocket will not strike at -30° . A portable propane heater will not light much below -20° , unless the tank is warmed up first.
That reminds me of a funny story on a friend I was working with one time. We had a sawmill set up just outside the Red Lake Indian Reservation. I would go up a couple days a week and grade lumber. One of the fellows was working there all week and was living in an old camper, on the back of a pick up truck. One night it reached -40° and Glen said his propane heater quit working and he was getting cold. He knew that his propane tank had frozen up, so in desperation he went out and brought it inside and put it under the covers with him until it was warm enough to operate again. I really laughed about his “cold bed partner”, but he simply said it was better than the alternative, which was freezing to death.
The coldest day I recall working outside was -40° one winter day near Menahga, MN. None of the crew wasted any time getting things done, that you can be sure of. But that was not the coldest I have been on a job. That distinction goes to a day we graded lumber near Enderlin, ND around 1989.
The Red River Valley on ND is not really fit for human habitation, in my humble opinion. That country is as flat as the ocean on a calm day and very few trees to block the wind. I think we were inspecting the lumber from the last stand of trees within miles of where we were. It was only -20° and did not warm up, but the real problem was the wind, it blew at a steady roar the whole time we were working. Once we got the job started we did not stop for breaks at all for 7 hours, for we knew it would be hard to get going again if we stopped. That was a serious cold day. In fact, after the job was done, I got in my little S-10 pick-up and started the 150 mile drive home. But that little truck could not put out enough heat to get me warmed up to anything like “reasonable”. I got to Fargo and found a cheap Motel and got a room. Before having supper or anything, I cranked the heat as high as it would go and piled on all the covers they had in the room and crawled in bed. I suppose it took me more than an hour to get warmed up that time. J I have never been as cold as I was in the Red River Valley of ND.
Since that time I have done some work farther north in the area of Cavalier, ND, which is only a very short distance from the Canadian border. But that country is more rolling and the humidity must be lower, for although it was very cold a couple times, we never suffered the cold like we did around Enderlin. The difference has to be in humidity and wind.
I have read stories of people in Siberia who, in the 1800’s lived on the great vast tundra areas who lived much like Eskimos. In their Caribou parkas would think nothing about living and working in deep freeze temperatures for months at a time, even their huts only reach barely above freezing, but they seemed to have acclimated to the cold that they showed no signs of suffering.
It reminds me that so many things are relative to what we become acclimated to. Whether it be in our environment of heat and cold, or the food we eat, etc. What becomes ‘normal’ can vary a great deal and very quickly. Habits can be formed, whether good or bad, in a very short period of time. What most of us forget is that we have a ‘choice’ in how we live. Even contentment and happiness to a great degree is a “choice” we make. It matters not if every detail of our lives are lined up to suit what we imagine to be “ideal”, if we choose to accept things that are, as reality and live with it, we are generally more content, than if we are always discouraged and distressed that things and people we deal with, don’t always meet our expectations.
It is a wise policy to learn the difference in what we can change vrs. the things we cannot. A general guideline is this; I can change myself and my reaction to other people. Sometimes I can change “things” to better fit into my life and activity, but it is seldom that we can “change other people” and in some way force them to be what we want or think they should be, sometimes the problem is not in other people but my own perception of them.
Our lives would be enriched if we could learn the fine art of training ourselves to be ‘content’ with things the way they are. Not that it is always a mistake to attempt to make needed changes in people or things. But when it comes right down to ‘reality’, all we really have a choice about is ‘ourselves’ and how we decide to live.
I choose to be ‘content’, at least until such a time as I have opportunity or ability to improve on any situation.
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