How cold was it?
This is how cold it was: I saw a face in a bootprint in the snow and I DID NOT STOP for it. I couldn’t face (sorry) taking off my thin glove one more time–and my phone camera responds only to my bare finger.
Back in Edmonton on a quick trip for a family event, I was managing my exposure to the Great White North pretty well, dashing between the car and the hotel, the car and the yarn store, and the car and various restaurants. With a low of -16C it was cold, for sure, but nowhere near as bad as the -36C of the previous week. The issue was my gear: my gloves, specifically. They were intended only as liners and wouldn’t have kept my hands warm even if I’d kept them on. Which I didn’t. The bridge was calling, as it has before, and before that, and before that.
Taking advantage of gaps in my schedule, I stopped twice: once just before noon in grey-out conditions, and once a few hours later when Alberta’s blue sky had reasserted itself.
With the city’s downtown skyline behind it, the resulting panorama wants a little elevation. Just a little.
Unfortunately, the City has neglected to provide a sidewalk up the adjacent hill, the twisty road down that hill does not invite pedestrians, and the scrubby woods that cover the hill block the view from the only pull-out/parking area. It would be doable in any season other than winter, or in any gloves other than the ones I had.
And so I went instead for the close-up shot.
And the even closer.
And then I whimpered back to my car. Do they make warm gloves with a velcro flap on just one finger, do you think? They should.
At least the sun is shining.
Ralph – 🙂 Indeed! I used to laugh about that “sunny Alberta” trope until I spent some time in Ontario. It really is sunnier than many parts.
The tracks in the snow also tell me that some people were riding bicycles. In Edmonton? In winter? Do Edmontonian bicycles come with propane heaters? Studded winter tires? All-wheel drive?
Jim T – The wider tracks in the field are, I think, from toboggans being dragged up the hill I was slip-sliding up/down in quest of elevation. I hadn’t noticed the narrow ones on the pedestrian bridge, and I didn’t *see* any cyclists, but I expect some folks do cycle year-round. They may not be outfitted as you suggest/speculate, but I hope they have good gloves!
The things we do to obtain neat pictures…..
Jim R – 🙂 Very true.
A reader sent me this link – they DO have such gloves – exactly for this touch-screen purpose.
One of my grandsons and family live in Edmonton. Can be chilly, but also beautiful.
Tom
Tom – Yes, for sure – both are true. It really helps to have good “gear.”
Isabel – many Canadian outdoor stores sell MITTENS with a flap over all the fingers. The flap is held in place by a Velcro strip when the fingers aren’t required for dexterity.
Some people silly enough to ride a bicycle in a Canadian winter have gloves heated with an internal battery pack. In fairness, I usually only see people like that when I am out walking in the Greenbelt and they are riding fat-tire bikes built specifically for winter trail riding. Can’t say if the battery pack if rechargeable or if it requires regular batteries.
John – Mittens might also work. Thanks! I can see that I have some (shopping) work to do before the next winter photography season.
It strikes me that shopping for mittens of any kind in Tempe or elsewhere in the Phoenix area might not have a high chance of success. You might have more success waiting until this fall in Ottawa and going to Sail, or Cabella’s, or even Canadian Tire, all stores that have a section catering to hunters and ice fishermen.
As you like to knit, you could also consider crocheting your own in accordance with the following link,
Bing Videos
John – These days, I start online – it saves (& often eliminates) the driving around. I think you’re right – Phoenix will not be a likely source of the winter-photography gear that I’d like. Thanks for tracking the crocheted mittens. As basic or old-fashioned as these might seem, they’d have been a ton better than what I was wearing!
Looks like I’ll have to send you the link for crocheted fingerless gloves c/w flap by separate email.
All – Here’s the video John was trying to link to.