Verses on the North Wind

[Lallans]

A magnificent effort in the OP, which I will now dishonour with the following:

An Ode to the Xman From A Fellow Canuck.

In BC they think they know cold
Because they know rain and some snow
But in the West and the East
We think they know least
Of the cold that Canadians know.

If that don't scan or otherwise stinks... I'm trying to work here, talk to my lawyer.

[xman]

Here's a thought. I was at the park with Little Man yesterday, unthreatened by the near record lows and we sat on a park bench eating a muffin and I was drinking my coffee. For the very first time ever I didn't feel that cold bench beneath me as there was 4 1/2 yards of wool between it and me.

[xman]

... I didn't feel that cold bench beneath me as there was 4 1/2 yards of wool between it and me.

And tonight, sitting in a cold theatre with no insulation in trousers, I froze my patootie off. I'm still cold two hours later.

Kilt one. Pants zero.

[Whidbey78]

Well, I'm not as far north as you X, and I have to agree that BC isn't the harshest of climates to be found in the gorgeous Great White North. That being said, it still gets plenty cold as far as my bones are concerned.

Back "in the day" living in Washington we got cold winds off the water(and being an island it made no difference which way the wind blew) but it wasn't bad if one was out of the wind. Unfortunately I was not yet bekilted when I journeyed from that evergreen-lined paradise and into the deep outback of the mainland.

What I can tell you though is that here in the "freeze and fry in the same day" climate of northwest Nebraska one can remain relatively comfy in a kilt regardless of wind and cold. Yesterday morning I threw on a USAK casual to go start my wife's car, sweep the snow off, scrape windows, etc. and shoveled the sidewalk. It was -3...that's three below zero Fahrenheit mind you. I was wearing warm boots, knee-length socks, and a medium weight work jacket and a watchcap. Though the casual kilt is light both in yardage and material weight I found it warmer than jeans. There was only a slight breeze at the time, but later in the day the wind picked up a bit and the lower half of both thighs was cold but everything north of that was warm.

If a casual is that comfy in winter I would bet a tank would be heaven...too bad I can't wear wool! Keep in mind that I seem to have an unusually high tolerance for the cold. When others are adding layers I'm still in a t-shirt.

[Lallans]

It's when your tires freeze flat on the bottom that you know it's really cold. That driving experience is usually preceeded by the sound of your shrunken pistons clanging like bell clappers inside their cylinders (insert joke here).

However I will give props to BC that they have been in an arctic flow of air that was intended to come here but got misdirected in precisely the opposite east-west direction. In other words, BC is getting our weather. I'm so sorry!

[Mikilt]

When the cold weather has come
And the warm weather has been sent
You won't catch me wearing my kilt
in the ways of the Regiment!

[xman]

... BC is getting our weather. I'm so sorry!

It's not so bad. Little Man and I went out and made snow men today and he made a snow angel too, snow balls were thrown. Without the blistering winds of the other day, the kilt was very comfortable. One neighbour (I don't know his name but) with a Scot's accent commented as we built a snow man that it was good weather for kilt wearing. My warm tush agrees. All in all a pretty good time. The rain is supposed to come in a matter of hours which will bring us back to bitter sweet norms.

[CMcG]

That was charming bit of verse, thanks xman.

As for cold weather and the kilt, I hear the Highlands get rather chilly in the winter. Garments are usually appropriate to their climate of origin, ergo a kilt should be fine when the temperature drops... as long as you bundle up the rest of you warmly too!

[GMan]

So apt and so true.

Seems like people just do not understand.