The sunny winter days are my favorite. Clear white skies and the light reflects on the ice to create a mist of brightness that reveals all the things we forget to appreciate.
Remember I made a post about my last walk before snowfall? You can see it here. I missed one significant reason why I hate walking during the winter. It is also the answer to the question I posed in the title of this post.
Come sundown, the atmosphere turns magical. There is a blueish hue that fills the earth. A tiny stroke of bright orange lights up a corner of the sky and shines against the Soviet era pale colored buildings.
There is a very small window to experience this magical play of colors. It is exactly when the sun is over the horizon but its light still remains in the sky. A perfect moment of transition between day and night.
If the street lights don't come on then you'll surely catch a quick glimpse of it.
What freezes but melts then freezes again then melts again?
The ground of our city in winter, of course!
It is amazing how indecisive the weather can be. It is already January. If I have learned from all the years I have lived in this city, then it is that I should be knee deep in snow by now.
However, all I get is an endless ice skating rink. I am not even sure if this...thing...can be skated on. It is the most annoying thing ever. A single trip to the groceries feels like the helicopter mission from GTA Vice City. You know the mission I'm talking about. The one where you control the RC helicopter with a wonky controller and try to place explosives in the building within a small time limit.
This is a walking game set on god-level difficulty mode. I have tried everything. I have even tried waddling like a penguin. Hey, what can I say, I'll prefer reaching my destination over getting laughed at any day every day!
It is a little concerning, not having knee deep snow this far into January. Sometimes I think about how drastic is climate
change. The coldest it got here so far was -14 degrees celsius. That is a hilarious joke compared to what I am used to.
That is also the biggest reason why walking in this weather is a total nightmare. We have a little snow, which starts packing on the ground. While hardened snow is a little tough to walk on, it is still pretty easy. Walking on soft snow is fun. It doesn't even come close to being a hassle.
But when you have this constant switch between cold to warmer to colder to warmer, it starts creating layers. Endless layers of frozen ice and melter water trapped within the ice. When it gets warmer the top layer of ice begins to melt ever so slightly creating another tiny layer of water. When it gets colder that tiny layer of water grows a tinier frozen layer of ice on top.
Sooner than you realize you have a sandwich of thinly layered ice and water beneath your feet. You must have heard of black ice, right?
Now every time I go to walk I find myself doing the "jerking" dance. Look it up. It looks exactly like everyone in this city trying to get somewhere.
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