Baby it's cold outside!

Each year Winnipeg gets a deep freeze, some years it lasts a few days, others a few weeks, but it is something you can count on dealing with at some point over the winter months. Usually it hits at the tail end of January or the beginning of February and it is by far the worst part of winter.

While there are other major cities in Canada that are cold, the other prairie cities and to a slightly lesser extent Quebec, Winnipeg does hold the distinction of having the coldest winters. On days like today it’s not hard to see why.

While other cities are basking in temperatures as warm as +2 (St. Johns) most are sitting somewhere in the teens (Edmonton, Charlottetown, Whitehorse even) Winnipeg is currently -30 celsius, with wind chill it feel like -43.

That is actually as cold as it sounds and unless you’ve experienced it first-hand you are not going to be able to grasp quite how that feels.

The downside-

·         With wind chill heading outside today is absolutely numbing.  Exposed skin will develop frost-bite in under 2 minutes and let’s face it no matter how hard you try some skin will show…..and you WILL feel it. 

·         Just breathing on a day like today is difficult. Your lungs do NOT want to breathe in air so much colder than your natural body temperature and so particularly the first few moments outside will literally leave you gasping. 

·         Getting dressed properly will take a minimum of five minutes, ten if you are under the age of 13 (note that teenagers are even worse and may never actually dress appropriately).  

·         You will still be cold no matter how many layers you have or how well you are dressed.   

·         Eye glasses.  You have two options, either you keep your nose poked out of your scarf and risk frost bite to avoid fogging up or you can pull up the scarf, take off your glasses and walk blind.

·         If Manitoba Hydro were to ever have major issues half of Winnipeg is going to freeze to death.

·         Black ice forms and Winnipeg drivers are already scary enough.

·         Chapped lips, ha, try chapped everything!

·         IT IS MINUS FREAKING 40!!  

Not great selling points for experiencing these temperatures yourself I know.  

Here however are the “good” points.   

·         No mosquitoes, yes this is my first point and trust me it is the big one (as are our mosquitoes in summer).

·         It’s a dry cold and yes a dry cold really does not feel as bad as humid cold.

·         It’s warm inside and the desire to share body heat encourages cuddling.

·         It makes you appreciate the heat of summer

Ok that’s all I got.  A regular winter day has quite a few more good points but to be honest there really is nothing good about the experience of an arctic deep freeze.

I’m going to go hug one of the radiators now…….

Disney Done

Well that’s it summer is officially behind us, but what a way to top it off. Our family spent the last week in the wonderful Florida sun and after 8 days of bliss we returned mid snow storm.  While we were there I wasn’t giving anything back home a second thought while blogger faithfully posted my pre-written and scheduled posts. 

Stepping off the plane in Orlando was magical in and of itself, having gotten used to near freezing temperatures the warm and humid air was pure bliss.  Palm trees swaying in the breeze, geckos running across sidewalks, flowers in bloom everywhere and of course visits with a very special mouse made this the best trip our family has ever had.   

I’d mentioned my intent to surprise the girls with this trip and did we ever succeed.  Their reactions to the letters I made for them were priceless.  While our youngest went from curiosity to pure excitement as soon as she realized what the letters said our oldest went through several stages (including a rather doubtful one) before reaching that def-con 10 level of excitement herself.  

Since we were leaving the very next morning our vacation started as soon as we told the girls and I couldn’t be happier with our decision to surprise them.  Since we were left so soon after telling them it seemed we were in full-fledged vacation mode from that moment forward without even having left the house.

Another little bonus that wasn’t strictly necessary that helped bring the vacation home even before we stepped onto the plane was by starting off our trip by renting a limousine for the ride to the airport. For the girls this was a new experience and certainly worked to make it special.

This was also their first experience flying and so we made sure to talk to them about what to expect from the flight, the different noises and sensations that they might experience and brought along as many distractions as we could. I admit I was a little nervous as my husband is not a good flyer and our youngest shares his fear of heights so we did need to consider she might not do well. Thankfully it turned out that neither of them had any issues flying and enjoyed seeing everything from up high.       

Our flight had been slightly delayed and so our first day’s plans were a little rushed on arrival but we also arrived with a flexible mindset and so it didn’t cause any undue stress.  We were very happy with our hotel and the anticipation of our first parks day kept the stress of getting prepared for our week in check.

I think this was probably one of the most important elements that made our trip successful, planning.  I’d done a huge amount of planning long before we left but having that plan while remaining flexible really seemed to make everything flow smoothly.  There were times we forgot about the plan and lost track of time yet we still seemed to always find ourselves in the right spot at the right time for all the shows, parades and fireworks we wanted to see. 

All of our planning and research into when to go, where to eat, what to do each day, deciding whether to rent a car or not, the best location and hotel to stay at all these big things were figured out ahead of time and so the little things just worked.

Leaving to come home we were of course saddened to go but we all felt content and happy with all we had done and our tired feet were ready to call it a day.  We got one last week of summer fun before walking off the plane at the end of it all and straight into several feet of snow. Disney may be done but the memories we have brought home will last a lifetime and the snow doesn’t feel so bad.        

   

Big Top, Big Fun

As members of the Manitoba Museum my family tends to visit fairly often.  It’s always a nice way to spend a cold or rainy afternoon and in recent years there have been quite a few improvements so there is often something new to see.

One of the best improvements in my opinion is that Alloway Hall is now being used. It used to sit empty the majority of the time but is now always filled with an interesting traveling exhibit many of which seem to focus on learning through play, for both children and adults alike.

The one currently running is called Science under the big top and is of course about the circus.  It includes a lot of fun things to try out including aerial acrobatics and tight rope walking. Despite signs and volunteers encouraging adults to join in the fun and try these things out very few did.

I noticed a lot of adults who would look up at others enjoying the experience with an expression of longing yet be unable to bring themselves to try. It seemed embarrassment and a worry about what others might think watching them is what stopped most of these people.

I think it’s sad to see how many people let concerns about what others might (and probably wouldn’t) think that they deny themselves something fun. Something I’m sure they will very rarely have the opportunity to do.   

I did give both exhibits a try and had lots of fun doing them both. I may even have elicited a few outright laughs with my attempts but it was all in good fun there was nothing malicious about it. Just because there were others watching didn't mean it was any less fun or that it wasn't worth the risk of a bit of embarrassment.

The tightrope was actually fairly easy to do even though I really wasn’t wearing the best of shoes for it. It seems you walk more on the ball of your foot when on a tightrope so my heels didn't catch that badly but still they set me off balance a couple of times. It isn’t the first time I’ve tried tightrope walking though so that may have also made a difference.

The aerial acrobatics on the other hand were much harder than I expected.  It takes quite a lot more effort to manage a mid-air flip than I thought it would. I think the hardest part is getting past the mental hurdle that being upside down ten feet in the air brings. It is really hard to fight your instinct to grab onto something and trust that the harness will in fact hold you up.  I took me about a half dozen tries to actually get all the way over but it was a lot of fun to do.

Playing Tricks

I read a comment the other day somewhere, can’t recall where, that involved a doll that had struck someone as really creepy.  My brother-in-law once had a Darth Vader doll that creped him and my husband out.

What made it creepy was the fact that it seemed to change position independently.  If it was placed face down and you came back later on it would be face up.  The head would somehow always be turned to face the room’s doorway, or so my brother-in-law claimed.  I never actually saw this phenomenon happen although I did happen to be the cause a few times.

By the time I heard about this doll my brother in law had taken to purposely leaving it face down. I admit after hearing about it and admittedly being a skeptic I got into the habit of flipping it back over whenever I passed it and then never admitting I had done it.  In fact I still haven’t although my cover is certainly blown after my hubby reads this post.    

I can’t help but think my sister-in-law was most likely doing the same thing even though we never admitted it to each other out loud. I won’t deny a few raised eyebrows and smirks were exchanged.  We thought it was quite amusing to watch the guys get more freaked out and convinced the doll was possessed or something along those lines.

One of the last times I flipped Darth Vader over was while helping them move.  I never got the chance again as the doll was quite purposely left behind.   This time the boys were convinced no one could possibly have gotten to it and flipped it without having been seen heading downstairs to where it had been left.

I meanwhile had a nice little giggle at their expense and never admitted to it. It isn’t that I don’t believe unexplainable things can happen or deny the possibility of ghosts or spirits.  I think I’m fairly open minded and don’t deny the possibility of pretty much anything but I am a bit skeptical and I don’t think if ghosts are real they can harm us.

I would love to get my hands back on that Darth Vader doll or a replica; I wouldn’t mind having a bit more fun.