Is the weather outside frightful?
It’s officially Come in From the Cold Day today. As I write this it’s a balmy 11°f outside.
When I say “balmy” it’s not meant in the ironic sense, this is the first day we’ve been more than a spare degree above 0°f in the better part of a week! It’s been dangerously cold, although not quite Yukon Territory cold like it was in the classic Jack London story To Build a Fire, which I featured here earlier today.
Wind chills were pretty steady in the -40°f which is cold enough to keep me indoors for the most part. When the temperature gets that cold, the frigid air takes your breath away for a moment. With girl, whose lungs are worse than mine, it’s more than a moment. When it’s that cold outside, she can barely breathe at all.
Even Buddy “the Wonderdog” is affected by the cold, after all he has to go outside to urinate and defecate, which can’t be fun. Like every dog, when the weather is more temperate, he likes to take his sweet time, sniffing around and finding that one exact point his canine instincts tell him is right. In the severe cold, not so much. He goes out, he gets it done, and heads right back to the door. He certainly knows when it’s time to come in from the cold.
Skiing – Come in From the Cold
National Come in From the Cold Day is celebrated annually on January 22. The phrase “come in from the cold” means to warm yourself up by coming inside and warming your body up be it by fire or a warm drink. While there are numerous fun and adventurous activities that take place during winters like snowboarding, skiing, ice skating, or snowman building, one of the most satisfying must be to come inside after all that activity and get warm. We can see why this day was created! It encourages us to pause, come inside, out of the cold, sip a hot drink, and relax in front of a fire or heater.
National Today
When I still was a downhill skier, coming in from the cold was an absolutely necessary ritual. I never worried about weather forecasts too much before going skiing, and there was a time when I took shelter several times in a day. The hills themselves were somewhat protected from the worst of the wind, but when the ski lift made it to the top, we were hit by gale force icy winds. Even with ski goggles and a balaclava, the little bit of exposed flesh on my face would hurt.
At that point you had a choice, either head back down the slopes, or head back to the ski lodge.
Inevitably, after several runs, getting colder and colder every time I got hit by that icy burst, every time getting a little more numb, finally the lodge would call. It would be time to come in from the cold. The idea behind stopping into the lodge was simple, get warm by the fireplace, and get back out on the slopes.
That was great until age 21, then I’d stop in to get warm and have a drink. Rum warms up the old innards nicely, at least so it seems. Like everything else with alcohol, it’s an illusion.
Backpacking – Come in From the Cold
I’ve spent a fair bit of time out camping and backpacking in the cold. I’ve mentioned it before I’m sure, but likely my most favorite ever experience during winter months was going winter hiking at the Grand Canyon. I went backpacking several times the winter I lived there, once hiking over to the North Rim in the winter when the North Rim was closed.
The North Rim, at 8,000+ feet above sea level, is 1,000 feet higher than the South Rim. It’s also far more remote. During the winter months the road heading to the North Rim is closed by snow, not many people can say they visited at that time of year, it’s only a small handful of folks that make that hike in the winter, but I did!
After more than a week of winter hiking at the Grand Canyon, it was nice to come in out of the cold, back to my apartment at Grand Canyon Village, to get warm, and to take a hot shower which I swear has never felt better. The longer I’m out, the sweeter it is to return home and come in out of the cold!
