Gee, that was scary

I'm glad the forum is back up - I was starting to go through withdrawal. I was afraid that maybe, just maybe, this site would go the way of so many other web sites for lack of funding.

Then I thought, "Hey, cheapskate, when's the last time you made a donation to them?" Can't remember? Then it's been too long.

So I don't know if there's any connection between the forum coming back on line and the $50 donation I made this morning, but welcome back. <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Pretty girls, Leslie Nielsen,Moosehead Beer and now Aardwolf.Thankyou <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Ah, yes, pretty girls. I'm trying to maintain a summer frame of mind here in the northeast, where it was below freezing this morning. <img src="images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I don't mind the cold as much as I do the fact that we have to wear so damned much clothing to keep warm that you literally can't tell the boys from the girls. <img src="images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

>>we have to wear so damned much clothing to keep warm that you literally can't tell the boys from the girls

You're obviously not a Canadian, we have a sixth sense about these things ... <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

It's kind of a survival (of the species) thing <img src="images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Different colored Toques give it away <img src="images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

LOL yeah, the women wear the ones with the flower patterns and the guys wear the ones with the deer and the antelope <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

This strikes a responsive chord with me.

We recently had a couple of hunting trips to some cooler climes with only one or the other of my two sons. On the first trip, my older son with the help of his mother in packing managed to forget both warm shirts and a belt. Fortunately I discovered that before we reached the the Sierras. In addition to proper shirts, we got a suitable belt. He naturally chose a leather belt showing several game scenes. Somehow my wife had never happened to get him anything like that. (All right, in her defense, I will acknowledge that our local clothiers probably don't stock them).

On the next trip, with my younger son, he too wanted a comparable belt!!! Naturally (at this point, I am willing to concede the possibilty of some possible paternal culpability), we forgot to pack an adequate supply of his antihistamines (Yes, I do carry some in my pocket emergency kit--but it was not a full week's supply). Consequently, we too had to go to the store on our hunting trip. And, yes, naturally he, too, got exactly the fully game-festooned belt that he wished.

Thus ends the tale on my deer hunting trips for this year. And both kids ended up with more deer on their belts than I did I in my bag. <img src="images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

John

My wife had to go to Canada on business a few years ago. While she was up there, she told me on the phone that our idea of frigid is the Canadians' idea of "brisk."

Holy cow. I get chilblains just thinking about it. Despite that, she said Canada is beautiful and wants to go there on vacation sometime. Guess I should get some electric socks to take with me or I'll never make it. Grin.

>>>Guess I should get some electric socks to take with me or I'll never make it.

Even in August? <img src="images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Hey, you never know, so yes, even in August. <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Depends what part of Canada you go to. But be advised - the one-day record for snowfall in Alberta was on (IIRC) June 29th one year.

It is weird - a co-worker and I once flew to New Orleans from Calgary in December. It was 30 degrees below zero Celsius (approx. -22 Fahrenheit) when we left Calgary. The temperature in New Orleans hit 31 degrees Fahrenheit the night we arrived, and they declared a state of emergency.

But I vividly remember, standing outside the hotel unloading our luggage from the taxicab, how bitterly cold it felt. Being on the ocean makes an astonishing difference. <img src="images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

But we experience it too. My (ex) sister-in-law went to Inuvik, on the Arctic ocean (my brother was working as one of the town doctors there) and they went on a camping trip. She got up in the morning and was colder than she'd ever been in her life; she had her tuque jammed down over her ears, her parka hood pulled up, her parka zipped *and* buttoned, big woolen mittens - then her Eskimo guide walked out wearing a cotton flannel shirt and said, "It's a bit nippy this morning." <img src="images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I feel a chill coming on just reading your post. Brrrr!

Winters here in Chicago can get darn cold. It's the humidity that gets to me. Lake Michigan keeps our winters damp as it rarely freezes over. In fact, it's winter evaporation that has caused historic low lake levels in recent years as our relatively mild winters has prevented significant ice caps from forming. Anyway, I spent a year in Stevens Point, Wisconsin where I remember experiencing below zero Fahrenheit weather without any real discomfort. But here in Chicago, a damp 32 degrees (zero Celsius ) creeps into your bones and makes life miserable for those of us with aching joints. <img src="images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Geez! Now I'm starting to feel lousy already just talking about it and it's only November! <img src="images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> It's going to be a long winter.