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I have lived in Rhode Island my whole life. And though I didn't want to stay here, all of my family is here and I'm partial to them . Of course I have learned how to make it through the winters over the years but I still hate them.
My new mentality is if you can't beat the winter, join the winter. What is your secret to coping with cracking bleeding skin, snow, doing work outside, trying not to feel like your going to die of hypothermia, frosty cars etc. How do you cope with the winter and what are things you embrace during the cold weather?
If I'm going to live with it I'm going to be happy damn it
Secret: Come over to Canada for 1 winter and you will appreciate how warm RI is
Hah! I bet I would I feel like if I lived just a hair further south it wouldn't be so bad for me. But it gets cold enough here to get to me for sure. I can't even imagine Canadian winters!
Well, if you don't have to deal with all or some of the "hardship" we Canadians have to deal with, consider yourself lucky
After going through the list below, I hope you will feel better
For those who never experienced the "cold weather" and dreamed about it, take a look at the list below to see if you could survive or not:
(1) Heating bill goes to the roof
(2) Cost of building a house is higher because of the insulation
(3) Property taxes are higher because of snow removal
(4) Cost to maintain the property: Winterize it
(5) Cost to maintain the car
(6) Snow storms
(7) Black out
(8) Freeze your butts for 10-20 minutes
(9) Shovel the snow, lots of work
(10) Scrape the snow off your car
(11) Cold weather causes more damage to your car (salt on road)
(12) Cold weather causes more damage to your house
(13) Cold weather causes more damage to infrastructure, hence increase of property tax
(14) If you had a cottage, you winterize it, then de winterize it year after year, same with boats
(15) You pay the full cost of a cottage but get to use it for just 5 months
(16) Streetscape looks ugly, grey sky, black and white snow, roads look ugly & dirty
(17) More accidents, black ice
(18) Extreme cold in the mid West or central/northern Canada: You will have to plug in your block heater in your car or you won't be able to start your car the next day
(19) Cost of winter clothing
(20) If you had a dog, good luck !
(21) Winter driving: You need to be a good winter driver to avoid accidents
(22) Cold weather causes all kinds of damages to your properties, cars, cottages, boats ...
(23) Vegetable is more expensive
(24) Everything is more expensive because it costs more to maintain the operation (heating bill, hire company to shovel snow in parking lots of malls, government buildings, roads... after midnight): You or your tax dollars pay the workers premium rate for them to shovel the snow at 2 am so that you can park your car at 9am.
(25) You can't fix or maintain your car in the winter if you don't have a garage or underground parking
(26) Windchill factor: -20C, -30C, -40C, -50C for 3, 4 or 5 months
(27) The list goes on & on ...
I get my weather info from several websites and in addition to my home location I have both Barrow, Alaska and Death Valley, CA as "favorites". In the winter I check to see how bad it is in AK and in summer I check to see what the temps are in DV.
Compared to either of those places home doesn't seem quite so bad.
I have several pairs of insulated bib overalls made by Berne that keep me comfy in winter when I have to be outside but since I'm retired I no longer have as much hassle - like scraping windshield and warming up the car before going to work early in the morning. I plan appointments and errands for later in the day after the risk of black ice is over.
Having lived in the SF Bay Area from my mid 20's thru my mid 50's I confess that winter seems harder than I'd expected when I retired here. I grew up on LI and attended college in Plattsburgh, NY so was not completely unaware of what winter could be like but thirty plus years in moderate temps spoiled me I guess.
Oh well, the pleasures of living here far outweigh the discomfort. I am thinking of heading down to someplace like Savannah for a week or so of vacation in Feb just to take a break from the cold.
I grew up in Montana, just along the east slopes of the Rockies. There, the air wasn't near as humid as you get in RI, but we got alot colder air temps to make up for it. I dressed in layers all the time during the winter, which made it quite bearable. It was just a pain in the *** to get that stuff on and off all the time!
Again, the key is layers, and staying dry. You got those two things, you are covered!
1. GO OUTDOORS!!
2. Be active. Physical activity will keep you warm (and in shape). Winter is my favorite season - there's so much to do! Skiing, snowshoeing, hockey, ice skating, snow basketball, etc.
3. Vaseline at night will prevent dry skin the next day.
4. Buy good gear.
5. If you aren't doing anything active with your hands, nothing will keep them warmer than the front pocket of a sweatshirt.
6. Drive slow.
7. Eat good warm foods: tea, stews, oatmeal, etc.
8. Christmas decorations make everything more cheerful!
9. Wear sweaters indoors and turn down the thermostat.
10. If you bought a home with excessive square footage and useless high ceilings, don't complain when your heating bill is high.
FWIW, my opinion of winter fell dramatically after I left Alaska. If all you have is a few months of slush and ice, I can see how you might find winter unpleasant.
It's always better to have too much on than too little on when you are out and about. If you get hot, you can always unzip/unbutton/take stuff off. But if you get cold, what are you gonna do? I'm usually overdressed but it's better than being under-dressed.
Well, if you don't have to deal with all or some of the "hardship" we Canadians have to deal with, consider yourself lucky
After going through the list below, I hope you will feel better
For those who never experienced the "cold weather" and dreamed about it, take a look at the list below to see if you could survive or not:
(1) Heating bill goes to the roof
(2) Cost of building a house is higher because of the insulation
(3) Property taxes are higher because of snow removal
(4) Cost to maintain the property: Winterize it
(5) Cost to maintain the car
(6) Snow storms
(7) Black out
(8) Freeze your butts for 10-20 minutes
(9) Shovel the snow, lots of work
(10) Scrape the snow off your car
(11) Cold weather causes more damage to your car (salt on road)
(12) Cold weather causes more damage to your house
(13) Cold weather causes more damage to infrastructure, hence increase of property tax
(14) If you had a cottage, you winterize it, then de winterize it year after year, same with boats
(15) You pay the full cost of a cottage but get to use it for just 5 months
(16) Streetscape looks ugly, grey sky, black and white snow, roads look ugly & dirty
(17) More accidents, black ice
(18) Extreme cold in the mid West or central/northern Canada: You will have to plug in your block heater in your car or you won't be able to start your car the next day
(19) Cost of winter clothing
(20) If you had a dog, good luck !
(21) Winter driving: You need to be a good winter driver to avoid accidents
(22) Cold weather causes all kinds of damages to your properties, cars, cottages, boats ...
(23) Vegetable is more expensive
(24) Everything is more expensive because it costs more to maintain the operation (heating bill, hire company to shovel snow in parking lots of malls, government buildings, roads... after midnight): You or your tax dollars pay the workers premium rate for them to shovel the snow at 2 am so that you can park your car at 9am.
(25) You can't fix or maintain your car in the winter if you don't have a garage or underground parking
(26) Windchill factor: -20C, -30C, -40C, -50C for 3, 4 or 5 months
(27) The list goes on & on ...
Minus the extreme windchills and temperatures, he probably deals with all that to some extent in Rhode Island. Besides, he's trying to look for the positives of winter, not the negatives.
Anyway, I find that dressing properly makes all the difference. It's very easy to stay comfortably warm if you have enough layers and protection from the cold. When you're properly dressed, you can enjoy the fresh air outside.
-Make sure you heat up the car for at least 5-10 minutes on cold mornings.
-Leave an extra jacket and pair of gloves in the car in case of an emergency.
-If you're going to be working outside, make sure you wear gloves to protect your hands.
-A hot cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate, or soup can quickly warm you up.
-Try to go outside to embrace and appreciate winter. It can look beautiful right after a snowstorm. This time of year is also great because of all the Christmas displays.
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. Of course I have learned how to make it through the winters over the years but I still hate them.
