Ive got my lovely floor heater at my feet and I'm finally feeling pretty darn toasty!
I keep wondering why I can go out in these extremes and be out there for hours not feeling much of the cold. My gear is good and Ive got the knowledge of clothing efficiency without being an immobile sausage but the big difference is that I'm constantly going into the dog truck to load and unload dogs. I know its warmer in there, by the reading on the thermometer, but feeling it is a bit different. I cant feel much on my skin through three layers of clothing and a big heavy parka!
I let them run around and play yesterday while I scooped poop and used my chemical hand warmers in my mitts. It was nice to have those but my feet started to chill pretty bad... back into the dog box to warm up!
And I'm starting to realize the advantage of having my head in the right place. Sure its cold, sure it sucks but after I got through the, "Oh damn this sucks!" phase I realized that dropping dogs and doing all that work has become routine and quite livable.
Sure, when I walk out of the house and the breath catches in my throat so hard that I can barely breathe it does give me pause and worry that I might pass out somewhere in the dog yard through some stupid accident or mistake... something that could cause serious harm or even kill... but ironically this is livable and my frame of mind is much improved today.
Its not like I havent been through this before. After ten plus winters Ive seen just about everything Alaska has to offer... the good and the bad... but what is still hard to get through is that this is February. One more month and it will be March, the best mushing time of the year!
Weather patterns are changing all over and we are no different but its strange having to deal with a deep freeze now instead of in our usual month of January...
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