Cold Comfort
Posted at 6:00 AM on December 10, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(29 Comments)
Radio Heartland has tickets to give away to a performance by Pieta Brown at the Cedar Cultural Center this Saturday, December 12th. We'll take names until 1pm today.
Enter the drawing.
Obey the rules.
Good luck.
As the howling wind drives our temperature downward towards something more appropriate for a typical day on the surface of Mars, let's take a moment to salute those who work outside on the coldest days of the year.
Police, firefighters, construction workers, school crossing guards, garbage and recycling collectors, goat and cow milkers ... who am I forgetting?
When the weather is at its worst I have a large coat I use to ward off the chill. It feels like I'm putting on a small house when I wear it. I've also got a few pairs of flannel lined pants and a hat with emergency flaps that come down as soon as the temperature dips below 20.
And then there are the required sub-garments. If Dolly Parton had grown up dirt poor in Eden Prairie, Minnesota instead of Locust Ridge, Tennessee, she would have fallen outside Eden Prairie's socio-economic profile by quite a long way, but she might also have called her most famous song "Coat of Many Layers".
Ma placed ev'ry garment on me
Small below and then the large
She made my coat of many layers
I turned as slowly as a barge.
Basically, you go into the closet and put on everything that's in there. All of it.
We all have techniques we use to blunt the effect of low temperatures and a brutal wind chill. Last night I spied a particular household in Northeast Minneapolis where they found a way to bring a touch of the south seas to their frozen back yard with this artfully arranged Christmas lights display. All it needs is a monkey and a coconut.
How do you prepare yourself to face the coldest time of year?
Comments (29)
last year i stopped milking on Dec. 29 but this year i am determined to continue - only milking Dream - thru the winter. my hands are the most vulnerable and i've decided if Dreamy has to be bare, so should be my hands. but then, putting my bare, cold hands on her (even though it feels great to me) might be an alarming experience and Dreamy might decide that this isn't such a good idea. so, in each jacket pocket is an old sock filled with dried beans microwaved to a nice warm temp before i leave the house. before i touch Dreamy i stick my hands into my pockets to warm them. then as i continue to milk, my hands are further warmed by Dreamy. it's a good deal. Dream enjoys the time away from the other two, she gets to eat more, get brushed and coddled and i get the milk.
the goats keep themselves warm - normal body temp close to 103 - with those big rumen filled with fermenting hay. why can't we do that?
I lay in a large supply of hot beverages. Can't drink them outside in this weather as they freeze to the rim of the travel mug, which then freezes you to the travel mug, but once inside, I am not to be found without a mug near by.
Hope you can play the song about the lumberjack who stirs his coffee with his thumb!
Good Morning Everyone,
Like Dale, I have lots of layers to put on during the coldesr days when I go out. I have long Johns, insulated boots, and several layers for the rest of me including a face masks, a hat with ear flaps. and a hood. This stuff is fairly well design and doesn't restrict my movement too much, but it is a lot of work to put on and take off.
Layers are the way to go. I start with an internal layer of oatmeal for full stick to the ribs insulation. I make regular oatmeal in the microwave in just 2 minutes. Usually I add raisins but today's version has dried cherries and is worth doing again.
Barb what about adding fingerless gloves (think Fagin) to your milking wardrobe and warmed beans? I think both you and Dream would appreciate it.
Stay warm Heartlanders!
I just try not to think about it too much - the cold, though I will say, if I were a goat with teats, I'd want Barb for my milker.
Could Red Light be played this morning, possibly by 7:22?
(pretty please)
Yesterday I faced the cold by skipping my run. I figured the drivers were still too new to the winter weather for me to be able to run safely.
In general, however, I face it with lots of layers of running apparel and a balaclava to keep the air going to my lungs warm. The design of running gear is generally pretty nice, and I get hot rather than cold when I run.
Still I dislike the cold and don't have a mechanism for psychologically facing it. Pretty weak for a Minnesotan. ;-)
Yes, of course, layers..several. I am fairly warm-blooded in general and doing the animal chores warms me up pretty quickly. The one thing I had to remind myself last night during chores that I have to remember to cover my face this morning.
I start out with mitts, but by the time the horses are fed, I can take them off. And I can work up a sweat under the layers...
Getting into the cold car to go to town, o coming home -- that's another story. Cold sets in fast and it takes to the end of Duluth to get warm.
Warm wishes to get the day started
My "small house" coat is quite long. It's hard to reach the bottom of the zipper. And this morning, the bottom of the zipper opened up as I brought in more firewood. The bottom of the zipper is so close to the floor, I had to wiggle out of the coat in order to work on the zipper.
I didn't get cold -- yet.
Dale and Mike
Thanks for playing "The Drifting Whistling Snow!" I grew up listening to this album and now have the record in my collection. It brings back great memories!
May everyone know where their shovel is today! Keep warm!
I forgot to mention one of my dad's favorite sayings (as applies to today's topic).
"Remember, it doesn't matter how you look, as long as you are warm!"
Thanks for the song. I love getting my own way!
Greetings! One must dress appropriately for the weather -- as it sounds like we all do. Except teenagers, of course. My 15-yr old walks to school, and while he has good, sturdy boots and coat, they're neither "fashionable nor cool" so it takes some convincing to get him to wear it. But once the real cold settles in, he dons them and doesn't make a fuss.
I like the idea of those folks w/tropical Xmas lights. Sometimes mind over matter works. I visualize and remember what it felt like on those hot summer days and pretend there's a warm sun inside me. I remember doing that when I was younger. It takes some concentration and focus, but it does work -- sometimes.
I am also a layers kinda gal - but I don't start with oatmeal like Beth-Ann (though that sounds really yummy). I start laying on a thin extra layer of fat in about October. Must be my dairy farming ancestors' genes - I start craving dairy fats (cheese, ice cream, milk, yogurt, butter...) as the weather starts to cool. Okay, I crave dairy products year 'round, but it kicks up in the fall and usually results in a couple extra pounds to keep me warm. Some long underwear and a good, thick Norwegian sweater underneath the down coat and I'm good to go.
Stay warm all!
Cold Morning Dale,
My dear husband will be working on one, possibly two of the really tall towers in a city near you on satellite dishes today while I teach kids in a warm toasty room.
Kathy
Silk underware. Sounds like a luxury, but it's SO light and warm. Then other layers as mentioned, topping it with the long coat like Ken's, make sure it's HOODED. And those internal layers don't hurt either, esp. some hot cider.
yes Cynthia, i think working outside is much better than, say, waiting for a bus or trying to get one's car started.
this morning, though, i put on my "big" jacket. i am always reminded of "The Christmas Story" film - so many good scenes and lines in that one - and the little brother getting so bundled up by his Mom that when he falls down he flails around, paralyzed by his outerwear, and is unable to get himself back up.
When encountering someone moving to Minnesota from warmer climes, I tell them they need to get 3 things: the long hooded coat, the Sorels or some REALLY warm boots, and an attached garage. (Well, 4, including the snowblower, which we need to look into -- we're getting too old for this.)
a long while back, one day when i must have made a disparraging remark about the cold, a friend told me tahe if you are going to live in minnesota, you need to find a way to celebrate the winter. pick a venue, skiing, snowshowing icefishing, cross country skiing, snowmobiling,
i tried snowmobiling but the brandy and smell of gas while i fumbled around in a sub zero motor that needed tweaking made it a less than ideal choice. skiing was fun but expensive, montana was better than minnesota, but cross country skiing was perfect. go out and ski for an hour before coming in for the night was exhilerating and rewarding. then i decided to figure out what the ideal temp was because of the waxes i was using for my skis. it was obvious that 20 to 30 was way too warm, you would sweat like a pig and that 0 was closer to the correct temp. but when i refine it down to the best and favorite conditions for skiing with the ability to go out and ski without concern for overheating. without having to figure out how to do all the layer things with the vents and airflow stuff the ski maniacs want to sell you, the ideal temp for me was -10 degrees.. i got serious icicles in my mustache but that made it feel outdoorsey now when i hear it is going to be below zero i always thin in terms of the ideal cross country skiing outing. i believe it is a matter of attitude and an adjustment in our thinking. san diego an honalulu may be nice to visit but there is something about the hearty souls of minnesota that works real well for me. i love the seeing the old norwegians with their wool caps and scarves coming and going with a comfort about being a place where we have seasons and all you have to do is choose the correct coat for the season. it is pretty easy.
I don't have animals to take care of, like barb and Cynithia. I was still taking care of some plants out in the garden. The extreme cold probably ended my work in the garden.
There was some kale that was probably still alive under some cover yesterday, but probably didn't survive after last night's very low temperatures. Leeks that were stored outside were brought in yesterday and they have thawed out and are in good condition.
Amen to the layer of "internal butter"! the cold weather is as good an excuse as any!
Barb, I can't get the thought of knitting up some teat mittens for your girls (when they aren't being milked) out of my head. Sort of like gloves, but not, really.
Dale - how about Wicheta (?sp) Lineman for the guys who will have to mend electric lines blown down in these winds...
I've always said the cold was just in my head...
I wear the typical farmer seed corn cap to keep my head warm and I wear the big ear phone style hearing protectors to both hold my hat on my head and keep my ears warm. Oh, and it protects my hearing too when necessary...
It warms my heart to imagine all these farmers/herdspeople in the barn with their computers and listening to heartland. this show makes me smile. Smiling helps keep you warm as well. So thanks for the smiles.
What if they had iphones or ipod touches...isn't it hard to take off gloves to punch in the proper numerals? I really admire farmers.
How about remembering with a generous tip those workers who in sub-zero winds chills tie-down your x-mas tree on your car!
Getting ready to leave the house this morning I thought of another fearless crew that is out each and every morning in the cold, snow, whatever the weather, that I am eternally grateful for: newspaper delivery people. Thanks to them for being up in the dark and cold so I can have my paper first thing in the morning!
Tim - my best ice skating friend in high school and I came to the same conclusion - 10 degrees was perfect. Ah, memories.
Catherine - little teat mittens sounds so cute! they'd be eaten off in 20 seconds. but nice idea. i think (know) their circulation takes care of those tender parts pretty well. they stay hunkered in the deep bedding, underneath the nice, warm goat for the most part. but wouldn't those little mittens be cute??
Hi Barb,
I figured the tender bits were well cared for by nature, but couldn't resist the image.
At our house, we rate all those pictures of cats in costume in terms of demolition time.
Still, I am thinking there is a future in Knitting for Goats-maybe with a nice organic hay as the fiber medium of choice.
The mind boggles.
Enjoy that fresh milk, sounds like a bit of heaven.
thanks barbara, nice to be validated from time to time
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