“Common sense aided by present danger, will sometimes be too strong for whimsical opinions” – Franklin by Thomas Fleming
I’m watching an episode of the “The Last Alaskans”. Just about my favorite show thing to do. The show archives the daily lives of 4 families living north of the Arctic Circle.
Most of their struggles involve surviving the winters. Duh.
So this guy named Heimo is working his trap lines out there in the middle of nothing. Miles and miles and miles of ice and snow. On a snowmobile. So much clothing and fur on him that he looks like Sasquatch. For sure.
Even though his environment is my version of hell, I’m digging it.
So he wants to cross a river on his snowmobile to hunt on the other side. To do this he must first test the ice. Is the river frozen enough to support the weight.
Apparently it isn’t. Seems the area, according to Heimo, got hit with a heat wave and much of the ice melted. The temps rose from -50 F to -6 F. A HEAT WAVE?
I have never in my life associated -6 F with heat of any kind. Nor have I ever known a single human being who would. Except Heimo.
Around here……………….+79 F is a cool spell. Anything below +50 F is a cold spell.
Just sayin.
“Anyone is capable of anything, given the right set of circumstances” – Harbor Nocturne by Joseph Wambaugh
Remember it is all relative. (nothing like relative humidity’s being the sweat on your Aunt’s mustache) A temperature means squat….except at extreme levels…100 degrees is hot anywhere! 40 below is cold, anywhere! But, in between……35 degrees with a lot of humidity in the air and the wind blowing can feel a lot colder than zero in a sunny spot and dry air. And, I have been in a couple of spots where anything above zero was a heat spell.
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There is something very very wrong with you.
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Most of the ice roads and water crossings close at -5 or – 6 degrees. I guess that’s the safest temperature to use them.
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Hope I never need to know.
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