When I was a kid in Allamakee County, Iowa, we sure had some long, cold winters. My parents' house sat on the banks of Bear Creek, a large, cold-water trout stream, and down in that Bear Creek valley the cold air pooled in the winter, freezing the creek and dropping us into the freezer. I remember one morning, the Old Man's indoor-outdoor thermometer dropped to minus-26 degrees F. That's cold by any measure. But I also remember my Dad calling me outside at about 9 p.m. on one such night; as we stood on the front step, shivering, Dad pointed at the hillside across the creek and said in a low voice, "Listen." Then, in the still, cold silence, I heard it - the single hoot of a long-eared owl, a winter visitor to northeast Iowa.
That's one of my very favorite memories of my father.
Then, when in the Army, I spent a winter in San Antonio, Texas. A civilian neighbor assured me that south Texas winters were cold - "Sometimes it drops into the '40s!" Needless to say, I didn't and don't consider that cold, and spent most of my off-duty time in a t-shirt and jeans. But one day we were doing a land navigation course north of the city at a place called Camp Bullis, and what the Texans call a "blue norther" blew through; temps only dropped into the low '40s but with the wind and cold rain, despite having all my Army-issued snivel gear I think I was as cold as I've ever been in my life.
These things are relative. A lot of it depends on what one grew up with, and what you're used to. Now we live in the Great Land, and it's a common joke here in Alaska that you can always spot the locals in springtime because when the temps pass 40, they are in shorts and t-shirts.
So, yes, it's relative, but sometimes cold is an absolute. In the past week, here in the Susitna Valley, we saw temps drop not to 10 or 15 below, but past 30-below.
Even for Alaska, that's cold. And it's been causing some problems.
The largest utility in Alaska delivered a record amount of natural gas this week as customers cranked up the heat to warm buildings and homes during a brutal cold snap that has lasted more than a week.
The huge demand has strained the gas supply system in Southcentral Alaska, and prompted some elected officials to ask residents to conserve energy and heat as a precautionary measure.
Enstar broke its record around midnight on Wednesday, delivering 268 million cubic feet of gas a day to its 150,000 customers, said Enstar president John Sims.
That beat the previous record of 254 million cubic feet, set on Jan. 19, 2017 during a frigid spell then.
Plenty of us use natural gas for heat, especially in the Anchorage bowl, but out here in the Valley we tend to rely on fuel oil stoves and wood; over the last week, our firewood stack dropped precipitously, although to our relief, it looks like we'll have enough to last until warm weather returns.
Bad weather brings out the best in folks.
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Even so, cold spells like the ones I suffered in my youth--and the deep freeze we are just moving out of here in Alaska at the moment-- provoke some thoughts as well. Some things that come to mind about when it's cold, and when it's really cold:
- When minus-5 feels warm because it was minus-30, four hours ago, it's cold.
- When you spit and the spit hits the ground frozen into a pellet, it's cold.
- When you can't go outside because your door is frozen shut, it's cold.
- When you have to chop a hole in the air to walk, it's cold.
- When you have to thaw out ice cream before you eat it, it's cold.
- When the local coffee kiosks are selling coffee on a stick, it's cold.
- When you go ice fishing and catch fish sticks, it's cold.
- When you have to use your car's ice scraper on your eyeglasses, it's cold.
- When the politicians have their hands in their own pockets, it's cold.
- When you see a wolf not eating a rabbit but wearing it, it's cold.
- When the bears come out of hibernation and start building campfires, it's cold.
- When you start your truck to warm it up and three moose gather around the tailpipe for warmth, it's cold.
And, of course, when you can't charge your electric car, it's cold.
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Minus-30 is quite an experience. To go outside - and we have to go outside to work, as our office is in a separate building than our house - you bundle up thoroughly, even for that 20-30 second walk. Long underwear, insulated overalls, parka, scarf, fur hat, gloves - and still, when that first breath hits your lungs, your body rebels: "No way, you can't breathe this stuff, this is way outside operating specs!" But, spring always comes, and snows always melt. And sometimes, even when it's this cold, it's fun to bundle up at night and go outside, just for a few moments, to look at all of the brilliant, ice-chip stars that seem so bright in the cold, cold, dry air, and maybe see the electric greens and blues of the Auroras.
It's cold out. And come spring, we'll be bragging to the tourists: "You should have been here in January when it hit minus-32!" That is the best part of winter: dealing with it, enjoying it, surviving it, and seeing the new green of spring, once more.
