Adapting to the cold

Today we needed to make a grocery run. There were 150 car accidents yesterday in Ottawa alone, from black ice in the cold snap we've had the last few days. Weather Canada has issued a frostbite warning which has been in effect since Tuesday. Wind chill today has hovered around -30°C. So yeah, it's a bit chilly. We bundled up in layers and walked about 2 blocks to the store.

Now, this was our first time being outside in such temperatures, and I have to say it's a weird experience. Not to be gross, but at this temperature when you sniffle and the cold air rushes in your nose, you can briefly feel your nose hairs freezing together and sticking. Yes, seriously. Now, want to hear some sad commentary on L.A. life? I thought people used ski masks basically either for skiing or robbing people. In case you're wondering, yes I feel like a dork. And I obviously stayed in gangland far too long for my own good. Anyway, apparently you can wear these things several ways. Very handy. Weather like today, when your nose hairs are freezing and your whole face is numb, makes you realize how nice one of those puppies would've been.

By the way, along these lines, a simple tip most Canadians probably take for granted: if you open your jaw a bit but keep your lips closed, it draws the cold air over more of your sinus area and throat so the air that hits your lungs isn't so cold.

Another item we can't live without, which we never saw anywhere in the States and don't know the name of (help with this, anyone?), are a flippy type of glove. The bottom part is like a fingerless motorcycle glove, and there is a top part that is half attached to the back part of your glove and kept in place by a button or velcro. You can undo the fastener and flip this part forward to cover your fingertips. This way, if you need to do something that's too small and fiddly to do with gloved fingers, you don't have to take your gloves off. You can flip back the top, freeing your bare fingertips while keeping the rest of your hand toasty, then flip it back over your fingertips to warm them up. Genius, I tell you!

My (adult) son recently came up from the States to visit, and had bought new wiper blades to install before leaving for home. We said our goodbyes and he left, but when I looked out the window to check on him he was still out there struggling with the wipers. I went out there and discovered that the wind had kicked up significantly and gotten much colder... it was blowing his wiper packages and the little parts all over the place as he tried to figure out how to get his blades on with his bare hands. Oh I felt so bad for him! Apparently he'd forgotten to bring gloves. I was wearing my flippy gloves so I gave them to him to put on. Despite living only a few hours south of us in the States, he'd never seen anything like them either and thought they were brilliant. I helped him get his blades on and sent him on his way, telling him to keep the gloves since they sell lots of them up here. He told me during a phone call a couple of weeks ago that ever since that day they've officially become his favourite gloves. I smiled and thought, that's good since I just sent you another pair. :-D (I didn't say anything, it's a surprise.) It felt awesome to find something so helpful for him.

But now this begs the question... these things are amazingly useful, so why is it that nobody I know can find them in the States? Not even my son, who is only a couple of hours from the border and has similar weather. Yet, we've found them easily in various places in Ontario. Are they a Canadian thing? Weird.

And here, for the uninitiated such as myself, are guides on protecting yourself from hypothermia, frostbite, a wind chill hazard chart, cold weather cycling, and winter driving including putting together a winter driving survival kit.

It's embarrassing to have such a level of ignorance about these matters that I have to look them all up on the web, since other Canadians have probably been taught all about this stuff from an early age. I arrived here as a middle aged Canadian who had only ever seen the snow 3 times, with zero knowledge of how to dress for it, prepare for in it, walk in it, drive in it, or even play in it. I had leaky uninsulated workboots, no waterproof gloves, and I'd never been sledding in all my life. Some part of me envisions people secretly smirking and laughing their arses off at our ignorant California ways. During our first winter, a lot of people politely smiled and asked how we were handling the cold, not-so-secretly wondering if we weren't going to pack up and high-tail it back to California at any moment.

Well, it's dangerous not to know about this cold weather stuff, so I figure I'd better get cracking no matter how embarrassing it is.