In Other Words
Cold hands, warm heart? and "Survey says..."
Cold hands do not necessarily mean a warm heart.
Up here, it probably means your toes are cold, too: tiny icebergs threatening to calve off the ice shelves that are your feet. Your behind: the expansive cold of a wide, white glacier. The tip of your nose a blunt icicle looking for a warm spot to melt.
It is possible that your nice, warm blood is hanging out at your heart and it’s the rest of you that’s bloody freezing. Or perhaps your warmth is all in your head and your heart is as cold as the rest of your chilly bits.
The ironic thing is that the colder it gets outdoors, the hotter you get indoors. If you plan on doing any mall shopping, wear your skimpies under your parka; that way, when you get inside you can grab a shopping cart and dump your coat into it. Otherwise you’ll be sweat-soaked before you get to the food court.
The most annoying aspect of the weather in October and November is its unpredictability. You know you’re going to be cold. Question is, will you be chilled by a dry cold or a wet cold? Winter is easy to deal with when the temperature drops to below minus 10 and stays there. It’s a dry cold and easy to manage: put on a coat, hat, mitts and boots…and there you have it.
But, at this time of year, it’s the wet cold that poses the challenge. When friends in Vancouver complain about the cold it’s because the temperature has dropped to minus five and the air is still damp. You just can’t get warm, indoors or out. No wonder they think that if minus five hurts, minus 20 must kill you. But once that dampness gets frozen into the ground (and the trees and your tires) that clammy cold feeling is no longer an issue. You suddenly feel much cozier inside your long johns.
While the statement “cold hands, warm heart” may not be an accurate literal assessment of northerners, metaphorically it’s more likely to ring true. Judging by this issue, our snow-belt neighbours don’t sit on their hands when it’s time to embrace a good cause.
The evidence can be found throughout this issue, starting with Nikki Skuce’s tips for ‘green’ Moms. Her commitment to promoting a kinder relationship with our world has expanded to include earth-friendly tips for raising our kids here in the north. To contradict Kermit, it’s not so hard being green after all!
Also in the issue: Heather Ramsay’s article on a Haida Gwaii mother-turned-midwife, Frances Riley’s pieces on the Six-nation guitar and the Hecate Strait Kayak crossing to raise funds for adventure campers, and Amanda Follett’s article on taking Smithers’ Central Park Building into the future. All reflect positive thinking and positive action.
Read all about it while you’re curled up in front of the fire.
SURVEY SAYS...?
Every couple of months, as we put together another issue of Northword Magazine, we hold a picture in our heads of the typical Northword reader (Look, in the mirror! There’s one staring back at you! And—yes—we know you’re not typical, you’re exceptional…but what we need to know is: Are you who we think you are?)
It’s time we got to know you better. I expect it will be like meeting the next-door neighbours after years of assuming you know them simply because you share a fence and live on the same street. Then one day you knock on their door and the Prime Minister answers. How would you know unless you asked?
How will we use the information you share with us? We’ll use it two ways:
1. To shape our editorial content and assess our distribution methods. Also, to find out if (and why) you really, really like us or if you’re just saying that.
2. To help us sell ads. If you know us at all, you know we’re a free, independent publication, which means the ads pay the bills.
Our advertisers like us, too. Although a few business owners place ads to show their personal support of what Northword Magazine brings to our readers, most advertise in Northword to share with our readers what they have to offer. By sharing your stats with us, we’ll enable our advertisers to give you consumer information you can use.
So if you have a few minutes on your next coffee break, open this to pages 22-23 and fill in the blanks. Give us your two cents’ worth. We’ll give it back in the form of an even better Northword. And ad information you can really use.
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