But I think I still deserve bragging rights for taking the photo. Passersby waved and gave me a thumbs-up for taking it.
People here are odd, and I, too, have become odd, about the weather. No-one actually enjoys that cold cold. We're not comfortable, even when we have sufficient clothing on to be in no danger of frostbite. And yet, when the thermometers drop, we all grin at each other with perverse satisfaction. Like we are saying to the weather gods, "Bring it on! We're Fairbanksans! We aren't wusses!" And then we gather at each other's homes and tell each other what the thermometers closest to our respective homes reads. "-45 at Denali Bank!" "That's nothing! It read -48 at the bank near my house!" And then we break bread and eat lots of food and laugh at each other and ourselves into the night. My friend Carl throws something called a "forty below falafel party" and makes falafels. Yes, maybe we are "crazy," but if that's what crazy is, I add crazy to my list of things for which to be thankful.
5 comments:
I'm not sure it's accurate to generalize all residents of Fairbanks into a "We" like that. :) My old advisor at UAF did not like the winters!
Speaking of crazy, have you ever heard of the Darwin Awards? Probably not.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Awards
You've always been Odd, lovably Odd, but Odd none the less.
Crazy are those Polar Bear People. You want me to call you crazy. Jump into the lake at -40 Below...in a two piece. Now that's Certifiable.
See why I could never live in Fairbanks? Brrrr.... It's bad enough that it's 15 above here on The Rock.
I don't like deep cold, either, but yet there is this perverse instinct that makes me laugh about it... that's why I think the "crazy" description is accurate. :)
As for jumping into a lake at 40 below, I don't think that is even safe... definitely Darwin Award candidates there, if anyone does indeed do that, but I honestly don't think they do. You can die in under *a minute* at that temperature. Those Polar bear people do it when it's maybe -10C at the coldest. Harbin, China averages about 10-20 degrees C warmer than Fairbanks.
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