DODGING SNOW MACHINES AND STAYING WARM
It continues to be very cold here, especially on days like
today when the wind blows relentlessly and is accompanied by low
temperatures. I may take the bus to work
or back if it gets colder, but so far am keeping toasty warm in my layers of
down, fleece and Gortex, Baffin boots and several layers of gloves and mittens,
neck warmer, hat and scarf.
I was slightly disoriented after leaving the post office today, missing the opening in the fence where I usually begin my return walk home. The daylight makes things look different...I feel sure that I wouldn't have missed my route if it were still dark.
An Inupiat woman saw me looking puzzled and asked where I was going. She gave me directions and offered to have her son or husband give me a ride home. I was impressed that the entire time we were talking, she wasn’t wearing gloves and she was waving her arms in the direction of my street, not seeming cold at all.
I was grateful for the offer, but really do enjoy the fresh air and because it is light here during the day, I love seeing everything covered in varying thicknesses of snow. It really is beautiful. I was much colder walking home, going into the wind, so turning around and walking backwards for a while allowed time for my face to warm up and for me to catch my breath before turning around and to go forwards again.
I was slightly disoriented after leaving the post office today, missing the opening in the fence where I usually begin my return walk home. The daylight makes things look different...I feel sure that I wouldn't have missed my route if it were still dark.
An Inupiat woman saw me looking puzzled and asked where I was going. She gave me directions and offered to have her son or husband give me a ride home. I was impressed that the entire time we were talking, she wasn’t wearing gloves and she was waving her arms in the direction of my street, not seeming cold at all.
I was grateful for the offer, but really do enjoy the fresh air and because it is light here during the day, I love seeing everything covered in varying thicknesses of snow. It really is beautiful. I was much colder walking home, going into the wind, so turning around and walking backwards for a while allowed time for my face to warm up and for me to catch my breath before turning around and to go forwards again.
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When walking across the lagoon in the darkness of the
morning or after work in the evening, at least once a week, I share my route
with a person riding a snow machine, either going the same direction or the opposite. Our encounters are always a bit uncomfortable
and I’ve learned that the trick to not getting run over is to hold my ground until the last moment and then jump out of their path if they don’t seem to be
going to deviate. I’ve tried moving to
the far right or left long before they reach me, but I don’t seem to be good at
anticipating where they’ll go on the broad lagoon with no set trails, and
invariably feel too close when we cross paths. So much of the time I feel very
relaxed and happy here. I imagine that
having my sympathetic nervous system kick into high gear once in a while has at least long term benefits.
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