Vinter kläder

Well, it's official. The snow has been lying on the ground around here for 100 days. I haven't done the finger counting, but, from my memory, this latest lot started arriving in early December. So the stats are probably right. Apparently the record for the region is 156 days. Not sure why anyone really needs to know that. On the positive side, it hasn't snowed for 2 days now. And today, I think I saw the sun. I think it was the sun, anyway. Even the temperature has come to the party. It hasn't been below about minus 12 deg C all week. If this keeps it I might have to start calling it summer. Now, they've been quite clever here in the middle of town. At least, they've tried to be. Through the central shopping district, the footpath is warmed by underground heating. So that it doesn't get too icy and slippery during the autumn months. It becomes a problem in winter, however. When the snow is falling too quickly to be melted. So it builds up. And that's ok too. Snow is easy enough to walk on. Problem now is that it's become a little warmer out, and much of the snow has been cleared from the roads and footpaths. The snow that's left on the heated footpath is thawing, then freezing into ice overnight. So it's a bit of a skating rink out there. Right where most of the people are. Good intentions though, and I'm not going to knock them for that. It's tough to know what to wear out at the moment. For the past 3 months I've been happily wrapped up in my Fjäll Raven winter coat. God but I love that coat. Cost a bucket load to buy, but it's been my winter best friend. I can actually get around outside with just a T shirt on under that coat. Until it gets below minus 30. Then I wear a long sleeved T shirt under. Anyone moving up here, that's the coat to buy. Accept no substitutes. I've never once been cold in that coat. And it is as soft as. That's my favourite part about it, I reckon. The trick is to back into a seat on the bus, and let the coat melt itself into the corner of the seat. It's like falling back into a bed of feathers. At least, I imagine that's what a bed of feathers would feel like. Even the hood is soft. It's like you're resting back into a couple of soft pillows. If it weren't against God's law, I'd marry that coat. Which brings me to the worst delimma of all. Now that it's a mere minus 10 outside, I'm sweating like a, well, like someone really sweating, inside that coat. But I'm not convinced it's warm enough yet to move to an autumn jacket (jacka). (Can't believe that I have jackets named after seasons. How sad is that). I think I'll sweat it out for another week before making any firm commitment. It's good for my pores. Ditto for footwear also. I've got a great pair of walking boots that have a thermal insulation rating down to minus 25 deg. Never once been cold in those. Problem is that they don't have the best grip around. And tend to glide a bit over the snow on occasions. Something of a design flaw there. So I tend to favour my summer walking shoes with some good fleecy warm socks. A trade off, but then I'm not walking outside for an hour at a time. My toes are just starting to feel a bit cold by the time I walk the 10 minutes from the bus stop to work. Liveable. I've never been a hat person, I've always felt that was a bit trashy. That theory lasted about 5 minutes once autumn rolled in here. I don't open the door these days without my wool hat (mössa) firmly pulled over my ears. Unlike my winter coat and boots, there's nothing really special about my hat. Just a hat which a mate who worked on a NZ fishing trawler gave me a few years back. I probably should thank him some time. A final mention should go to my closest friends, the långkalsonger. Thermal underwear will never feature in the fashion mags. But they are a way of live up here. It's seems to be perfectly acceptable to wander around the house with just your thermals on. Mind you, that possibly explains why we don't get a lot of visitors. My långkalsonger are a little tired now, and I know that their time is near. But, having seen me through my first couple of winters I don't have the heart to tell them that they have become outdated. I mean, what's a few rips and holes between friends ? I'll give them Easter. They deserve that.