Monday, 3 February 2025

Life During A Cold Snap


         Here is something I found in my 1993 diary, telling of what a couple of days were like during a cold snap:

        During that first full week in January, I heard that there was an arctic front coming our way.  Frigid weather always caused problems, so I braced myself.  First thing Monday morning, I asked my wife what the temperature was.  She checked the thermometer outside the kitchen window and told me it was -24°C (-11°F).  Hearing that, I had decided to have mercy on me goats, so I gave them their hay in the barn, and kept them inside for the day.  However, when I got to work, I discovered that it was really, only -15°C (5°F), a temperature that the goats could have dealt with outside.  I guess my wife had misread the thermometer.

    The next day the frigid air did arrive.  The first thing out of my clock radio when it woke me, was that it was -35°C (-31°F) in Valemount, our neighboring village.  Mother Nature took mercy on McBride giving us a more balmy temperature of -32°C (-26°F).   I had my fingers crossed for luck when I sat in the cold car and turned the ignition key.  Fortunately, the car started. 

        I drove my wife (a teacher) to the high school to drop her off, then noticed that it was her keys in the ignition, so before she walked into the school, I turned off the car so I could them to her, and inserted mine into the ignition.

    When I turned my key to start the car, the engine gave a very feeble whimper, then nothing else.  After that, the engine no longer even tried to turn over.  The battery was completely dead, so realizing the car was not going to start, I zipped up my down coat, pulled down my wool hat and had myself a very cold one mile walk, across town to my work at the Forest Service.

    During the morning coffee break, Robert Frear a co-worker, gave me drive in a pickup back over to the high school, and helped me jump start my car with jumper cables.  Once my car started, I drove it back to the Forestry building, and was able to park it inside the warm Inspection Bay.  During my lunch hour, I discovered that the battery was very low of water.  After I topped it up, I no longer had any trouble getting it started.


View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

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