Cold , We Don’t Know The Meaning Of Cold
We often like to talk about the weather in this region. As a matter of fact, it highlights a lot of the conversation that takes place . So today we add to that conversation.
You will see from the picture of Prince George, the plumes rising from the furnaces and commercial activity in this city . Oh yes there may be some "wood smoke", and indeed there is some pulp mill, but that isn't the thrust of this comment. Instead let's talk about, for example, when you were a kid on the prairies, or where ever, the picture may have brought back memories of heading off to school in minus 40 temperatures, wearing rubber boots lined with a felt, or perhaps some mukluks. By the way, the kind of winter wear that we enjoy today didn't exist in those days and the long johns we wore, never came off until you took a bath.
I remember my old friend Del Archer from Dauphin, who worked at a shoe store in that community. He came to work when it was -40 wearing just leather shoes, because that was expected of him in order to hold the job.
One family that particularly sticks out in my mind was the, Archer, family , there were about eight of them living in a very small home, north of town. they went on to some very impressive accomplishments , including Del, who was a very well respected journalist with CTV. It speaks volumes about "Equal Opportunities", they just set out and carved out their own. They had to walk miles every day just to get to school, and think about it, with eight kids there wasn't exactly a pile of money to have sufficient winter wear.
For you old timers in this city , you may remember being called upon after school to split some wood, or at the very least bring it into the house, perhaps a bit of coal, if you had the money. When the pump froze you carried in the water from a hole in the ice. As the saying goes "we have come a long way baby."
When I first arrived in Prince in the early 70's the people in the bush used to talk about the first cold snap in November that put the frost in the ground enabling them to make some bush roads into the logging blocks. The word was if you didn't get the roads in the first freeze, you could wait a long time to get going. They used to say, and still do, that Prince George always got a warm spell in late January or February that thawed things out and then we received another short blast of winter. Funny thing, here we are 40 years later and the weather still follows much the same pattern, although it may be a bit warmer.
Just to get your juices flowing, I don't remember us having such terrible roads during that freeze- thaw in the old days, City Hall ought to dig out the old records and find out what we were doing back then, because I was doing a talk show at the time and I don't recall ever getting the kind of back lash that we are hearing about today.
So have a look at the picture, take a walk down memory lane and above all don't be afraid to talk about what you went through, It's a great way to pass the winter.
I'm Meisner and that's one man's opinion.
Comments
I remember walking to school one morning in January 1985 when the temperature on the Hart was around -45 and with the windchill it was around -57. Never experienced anything like it before or since.
When my buddy and I got to Kelly Road from the Birchwood subdivision, our eybrows looked those scenes from the Everest expeditions. It was only a 2.5km walk but in those conditions it felt like 30km!
You just don’t get winters like that anymore. Now -30 is the benchmark for ugly!!
Yes, the sights and sounds on the very cold mornings are very clear memories. The squeal of snow under a car’s tires could be heard clear across town and the loud report of trees cracking, buildings groaning in the clear air made for interesting times.
What ? You think the roads are bad ?
Try walking on most of the business parking lots in town, and if your real adventurous, try the Wendys drive- thru on Central.
I think it was Serbia that was being shown on the news last night. Everything is completely encased in ice. And we whine…lol.
Born and raised Manitoba boy. I remember 40 below with a 40 mile an hour wind was quite common. I thin windchill readings were just starting to be talked about. It felt like 100 below.
Canadians have become a bunch of sniveling wimps when it comes to weather.
Just because its colder in other parts of the world doesn’t mean i can’t complain once or twice that its freaking cold here, because it is freaking cold, i used to live in Fort Mac and its pretty cold up there to.
The difference in potholes is probably linked to the change in asphalt pricing. Is it an order of magnitude greater now? More than that? There’s your biggest cost increase right there.
Yes , the good old days when Pa would tie a hood off a old car to the back of his 58 Meteor and drag us [ and the neighbours kids ]down a country road .I don’t think we lost anyone , but what the heck everybody had big familys back then so may not have missed one or two at the supper table .
There are probably a few reasons for different road conditions now as opposed to 40 years ago. Vehicles are heavier, and there are more of them, especially large truck traffic that cause damage and ruts. Granted I know there have been problems with winter snow removal in PG this year, as opposed to previous years, but it can’t all be blamed on the city crews. We expect to be ablet to get anywhere, anytime and at the same speed as when there is no snow on the roads (some do, not all). We are a faster paced society and have come to demand perfection. With the social media we have access to, we hear about a lot more of the issues than we would have even 10 years ago….just my opinion, for what it’s worth.
Actually it is legitimate to mention (it is not snivelling) one’s concerns about burning all these many giga tonnes of carbon based fuels globally every year. Does this contribute to the observable climate change? Scientists are concerned.
Regardless, one may wonder if the chemical pollution emitted into the environment is not an even greater concern. The burning of coal (one of the most widely used fuels and on the uptick) for instance causes large amounts of mercury to be released, into air, water and soil. That is only one of the many contaminants, fine particulates and such being others.
That fact alone ought to make people ask some serious questions rather than ridicule each other with accusations of being whiners or misinformed about *globull* warming and being full of it!
Well you suremgotm them bunched up on a great subject. I grew up in northern sk. Our walk to school was two miles. We wore these felt boots and were the warm.
Got home from school and had to buck enough wood for the next day milked a couple of cows and then listened to the “Green Hornt” or maybe the “Shadow” oh and “Gang Busters” on the radio.
Here in Abby today the sun is shining and the teperature sits at -2.
Cheers
Well retired I went for a walk to back in the bush and no crowds not like down south. No such thing as a quiet walk down there. Hey I saw a cow and calf moose and tracks from the bobcat I saw last week, it is still around. Brilliant blue sky, quiet peaceful. The snow glistened like a billion diamonds.
Comments for this article are closed.