It's been COLD here for about two months.
By cold, I mean usually -30. For eight weeks.
-25 with no wind is, regrettably, considered an awesome day for being outside.
-45 is just mean, and keeps happening with the windchill. Over and over again.
It think we can all agree that temperatures beginning with "minus forty" should have "freakin'" crammed in the middle: example: minus forty-freakin'-five.
Here are a few truths I've discovered about the arctic cold temperatures:
1. The cold is pretty.
I think Yellowknife is about a million times prettier in the winter. The streets are white and snow covered. The trees are white and frost covered. It's beautiful. The only problem is that it's hard to find a day with reasonable temperatures to spend outside enjoying it with the girls, but we do get small chunks of about 20 or 25 minutes. I miss spending the days lounging on the green space of our court with our neighbours. Oh, that reminds me. This summer, the city has told us that they are replacing the pipes in our court, which means they are tearing up the roads. And the driveways. And, in our case, the entire garage floor. How glad am I that we are renting?!
2. The cold makes me strong.
I am SO strong in the cold that I can destroy things with my down-filled-mittened hand! Just last night, I bent the electrical cord to plug in the car, and I SNAPPED it with ONE hand. That's power, man. I'm like She-Ra, Princess of Power. Princess of Minus-Freakin'-Forty-Eight. I have a fur-lined super suit parka.
3. The cold makes snow just "appear."
It doesn't snow when it's below -30, but snow just shows up in a super fine powder layer on the car after a day. It just crystallizes and is there. I think Winter Fairies do it.
4. The cold makes vehicles function oddly.
You ALWAYS plug in a vehicle. And, in the absence of that, you run your vehicle for a few minutes a few times a day. Cars get grumpy at you if you don't. They make strange noises and protest. They are attention hogs.
5. The cold makes driving interesting... and necessary.
I would never imagine having the girls walk to school with wind chills regularly around -40. We absolutely must drive the short distance from home to school or have Eli drop us off and pick us up. But driving when it's this cold is quite an experience! Because Yellowknife leaves the snow covering the roads all winter, it makes snow tires a necessity, and also allows the snow tires to function in optimum conditions... Ultimately, fulfilling their snow tire destiny. The fumes from the vehicles come out of the tail pipe and sort of freezes at about eye level making this beautiful, but distracting snow-gas-frost haze that enhances the headlights and adds an odd element of beauty to driving in the dark. Because, not only is it cold, but it's still dark for a lot of the day.
6. The cold makes me appreciate thermal technology.
I love my parka and my mittens. I love one-piece snowsuits on kids. I love fur-lined hats, and fur-lined hoods. I love scarves and neck warmers. I LOVE my big, warm, rater-to-minus-seventy boots (and that's not an exaggeration!). I love insulation in buildings and heating systems that work. I love hot water and hot showers. These are a few of my favourite things.
7. The cold make me appreciative.
I actually am quite thankful that we are in Yellowknife having this experience as a family. Not everyone has a chance to live in Canada's Arctic. While I acknowledge that I'm not in a waaay north community, like Tukoyaktuk, Yellowknife certainly gives you a real lesson in extremes. From the extreme daylight we have in the summer to the extreme darkness and coldness in the winter, the North really doesn't hold much back. It's kind of refreshing, and I think that we'll appreciate "southern" living when it does come time for us to move in a few years.
It's a cool experience. Sorry. It's a COLD experience.
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