FRIGID, EH!
Hanns F Skoutajan
“But, baby it’s cold outside,” is the oft repeated refrain of this winter song. The lover tries to persuade the beloved to stay a little longer since its cold outside - sentiments we are very much able to appreciate. Yes, its been frigid outside, unfortunately that word is not very musical, “cold” will have to do.
The song was written by Frank Loesser in 1944 for his wife and became an instant Christmas favourite. But in fact it is a winter song which is especially appropriate for this cold season.
Each time I walk into this brick wall of cold air, now known as the “polar vortex,” I am reminded of my first winter in Canada. It was 1939 - 40 and we were ensconced in our wretched log cabin in the wilds north of North Battleford, Saskatchewan, fifteen miles from the nearest village.
On that first frigid morning we discovered that every drop of water in the house had become solid including the contents of the potty. Father scurried about setting a roaring fire in our potbellied stove that turned the pipes red hot and raised fears that we would burn down the place.
Next was to rush out to the barn to feed the two cows and the team of horses. They
welcomed us with moos and whinnies. To our surprise we found that their bodies had made their accommodation more comfortable than our own quarters. Then it was back to the cabin with pails of warm milk donated by the cows. Most of the rest of the day was spent indoors except for a brief workout with the axe at the chopping block.
We had no idea how cold it was. Only when we visited the general store did we discover that the temperature differential between celsius and fahrenheit made no difference. “Wind chill” hadn’t been heard of then.
“Baby, it was cold outside,” but we were well equipped with warm hats, coats, combination underwear and felt boots etc.
Most memorable of those three years in the True North was the winter that my mother and I spent alone, father having gone east to be retrained to get a more compatible job in the growing war industry, and certainly better living accommodation. Mother and I were left with disposing of our livestock and other goods.
We headed for the sack as early as possible accompanied by our dogs and cats into whose fur we were able to stick our toes. They didn’t seem to mind the occasional twitch. We slept well after telling each other bedtime stories which we made up each night.
It was one of those very cold days in mid February when our neighbour hauled us and our remaining possessions to the train station on our week long trek to Toronto.
These day it is not unusual to hear someone opine that we could use some “global warming” right now. Statistics tell us that indeed the climate has changed under the influence of ever growing Co2 accumulation bringing not just periods of cold but generally unseasonal weather. Think of the floods of Calgary and High River as well as the Elbe breaching its banks at Dresden, Germany, the hurricanes that have devastated areas of the mid west, the typhoons that have churned the seas and sent high waves ashore. And we are warned that there is worse to come. When my son visited Florida at Christmas and heard people complaining about the cold from the north he just told them it was all part of free trade.
We have an inordinate confidence that science and technology can solve all problems, but our profligate ways have given evil times a head start that is hard to beat. There are no quick fixes to our climate problems. Economics trumps everything else, so it seems. Sustainable development is even questionable at our stage. A whole change in lifestyle of the residents of this planet earth is in order.
In this my first blog of the year 2014 I ought to be a bit more optimistic about the future. And indeed there is much to be optimistic about. My hope rests with the coming generation. My son, an elementary school teacher who has developed new methods of teaching that involves what is called “the greening of schools” finds the “kids” really turned on to learning about nature and its preservation, and so are their parents. In the
publication, “ A Natural Curiosity” for which he writes, holds out the following hope:
“As ecologist and scholar David Orr emphasizes, our ability to restore planet Earth rests primarily on the decisions we make about education. The kind of education which has given us the “skills, aptitudes, and attitudes necessary to industrialize the earth” is no longer practical given the state of our vulnerable natural world. Resource depletion, loss of species, and climate change threaten the sustainability of the planet. Orr suggests that we need a fundamental shift in the way we think and behave, a shift made possible by a fundamentally different approach to teaching and learning: Education that nurtures children’s innate curiosity about the natural world, that fosters their understanding of the interconnectedness of all living and non-living things, and instills in them an abiding sense of care and responsibility for the well-being of their communities and planet Earth.”
We can only hope that our older generation will not throw too many roadblocks to this new form of education.
Yes, baby, it’s cold outside , but it might get hotter and dryer and wetter and more turbulent unless we heed the signs of our time. A New Year is upon us. Let us use it wisely.
SQ 10/01/2014
