The weather of Saskatchewan is often indescribable.
I wanted to start this blog entry by describing the chill of the outdoors. My son is on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. There the temperatures do not dip to -10 degrees Celcius — or to any Fahrenheit equivalent. To talk about the cold of -30 degrees Celcius is meaningless.
I have watched students come to Canada from tropical climes. Theire first reaction to snow is incredulous. From the sky comes a solid substance that can sting in a strong wind, can melt on a sunny day, or can be pounded into mounds of rock like formations.
So how do I describe the cold of the last few days? There are always times when a quick temperature change disorients you. Even the hottest day can bring an unexpected breeze or a cold shower. What you had expected from that balmy day is immediately dispelled.
Take that exact moment. Stand in a doorway and pretend you are walking into the chill of that moment. Now, increase the exposure by around 10 times. Add a growing tingling to your face and exposed skin. Finally, shiver so that you feel you will never recover. That’s -30 degrees Celcius.
Wait til you meet -40 degrees Celcius. You become an ice cube wishing you could thaw, an ice cream sundae whose frozen toppings are impenetrable, a reverse furnace who finds more warmth on the outside than on the inside.
If you want to join the extreme sports crowd, venture this way. Welcome to the wind blown prairies of Canada.