I have never been in any environment that was THIS cold for THIS long: two weeks straight of outdoor temperatures below 25 F, and often even plunging into the single digits with wind chills below zero.
Never in my life. This is a first.
All other instances in which I was living amid freezing temperatures, the cold never lasted longer than two or three days at most, and would then shoot back up into the low 30's again. And I was always a miserable, helpless, semi-comatose wreck for each instance of those 2 or 3 days when the temperatures would briefly dip into those arctic ranges. And then I was always thankful to the point of tears for when the temperatures returned to "normal" again back in the low-30's.
But this is the first time that the cold sustained itself at about a daytime average of 20 F perpetually for two solid weeks (and a nightime average of about 10 F). And this is also the first time that something in my body kicked in, and the result is that I have now adapted to the cold. I've never experieced that sort of acclimation before. It must be something innate which I never knew I possessed. I'd seen many other people throughout my life laugh at me and my inability to tolerate the cold. And I just assumed I was a whimp-out, never meant by God to venture into the Great White North. But it now seems that I was wrong and that I too can brave the cold, but it;s just that the programming in my own body is pre-set to need just a little but MORE time than most other people to settle into winter mode. I assumed I was destined to be a New York-Florida sbowbird. But it turns out I'd probably fair quite well in the Iditerod.
This has inspired me to want to permanently mark the calendar for a vacation in Barrow, Alaska each January for 2 straight weeks just to get the old metabolism into arctic mode each year. Then after the fires in the furnace are in full swing, I can return to New England each year and laugh at the prospect of setting the thermostat at 50 for the rest of the winter.
This has been so liberating.
Never in my life. This is a first.
All other instances in which I was living amid freezing temperatures, the cold never lasted longer than two or three days at most, and would then shoot back up into the low 30's again. And I was always a miserable, helpless, semi-comatose wreck for each instance of those 2 or 3 days when the temperatures would briefly dip into those arctic ranges. And then I was always thankful to the point of tears for when the temperatures returned to "normal" again back in the low-30's.
But this is the first time that the cold sustained itself at about a daytime average of 20 F perpetually for two solid weeks (and a nightime average of about 10 F). And this is also the first time that something in my body kicked in, and the result is that I have now adapted to the cold. I've never experieced that sort of acclimation before. It must be something innate which I never knew I possessed. I'd seen many other people throughout my life laugh at me and my inability to tolerate the cold. And I just assumed I was a whimp-out, never meant by God to venture into the Great White North. But it now seems that I was wrong and that I too can brave the cold, but it;s just that the programming in my own body is pre-set to need just a little but MORE time than most other people to settle into winter mode. I assumed I was destined to be a New York-Florida sbowbird. But it turns out I'd probably fair quite well in the Iditerod.
This has inspired me to want to permanently mark the calendar for a vacation in Barrow, Alaska each January for 2 straight weeks just to get the old metabolism into arctic mode each year. Then after the fires in the furnace are in full swing, I can return to New England each year and laugh at the prospect of setting the thermostat at 50 for the rest of the winter.
This has been so liberating.
That'll take care of my cold problem. It'll help just knowing that when I am at home, I will be warm and toasty.
