Chillin’ out
Calvin posted this on Feb 28th 2007 under Evening Echo Column, Writing
Published in the WOW! supplement of the Evening Echo 28/02/2007
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The outside thermometer was hovering at around -20ËšC. I stuck my head experimentally out of the front door. It was like sticking it into a freezer. Everywhere I looked the trees were coated in a delicate frosting of fresh snow and foot-thick layers blanketed the rooftops. Either side of the road mountains of the white stuff lay piled four feet high by the nightly passage of the snow plough. The road itself was a frozen compacted mass of snow and ice.
Welcome to Sundsvall, on the Baltic coast in north Sweden! This was freezing beyond anything we ever experience in Ireland. As soon as you ventured outdoors you could feel the chill sucking your body-heat out of you at an alarming rate. This was cold that could kill!
Still, up and down the quiet suburban street we were staying on there were plenty of signs of life. People were getting ready for school and work. Wrapped up well against the cold, residents were using snow shovels and special scrapers to clear last night’s snowfall from their driveways. A group of children walked past, heading for the school bus. It was very much business as usual.
In Ireland if the temperature dips a fraction below zero, and there’s the merest smattering of snow, the whole country grinds to a shuddering halt. Buses don’t run, trains are cancelled, airports close, children stay home from school and only the brave or the foolish venture out onto the roads. It’s complete chaos.
To the Swedes in Sundsvall though this weather is nothing new. Apparently they’re having a mild winter here this year!
The children, of course, have been fascinated by the snow since the moment we stepped off the plane. By mid morning the temperature had climbed to a “balmy†minus thirteen, so we decided to ventured out for a bit of fun in the garden. Getting the children out in these temperatures is no mean feat. The secret is layers. You have to dress them in layers: tights under ordinary pants under snow-pants with an extra pair of socks on the feet for good measure. On top they have a couple of extra jumpers, warm winter coats, hats, gloves, scarves, ear muffs… the works! On their feet they have thermal-lined snow boots.
Putting all of this on three of them can take a while – but eventually we made it out of the door. The little one stepped off the path and sank up to her armpits into a snow-drift. She thought this was great fun. I fished her out, emptied the snow out of her boots and put her back on the path. Laughing, she jumped straight back into the deep stuff! After about fifteen minutes the cold was seeping in despite all the cold-weather gear. It was time to head inside to thaw out with a mug of hot chocolate.
One of the things the girls really wanted to do in all this snow was make a snowman. This proved much more challenging than I’d imagined. There was plenty of snow, but it was the wrong kind of snow. Because it was so cold it was completely dry, and wouldn’t stick together no matter what I tried. You couldn’t make so much as a snowball out of it.
Luckily the temperature rose after a few days, and suddenly the snow became “sticky†and malleable. Armed with a carrot, a couple of potatoes and three little helpers I headed for the garden. We had the body rolled in about ten minutes, the head in another five, and the girls added the carrot nose, potato eyes and a leafy smile. A couple of stick-arms finished him off a treat, and we stood back to admire our handiwork.
We’ve only ever made one snowman in Ireland – it was tiny, and melted into a puddle of grey-brown slush overnight. Here, one week on, our snowman is still standing – and probably will be until at least the end of March.
