January 25th, 2009
It was quite chilly again in Michigan this weekend. The big difference this time is that my family and I were here instead of in Florida. And we didn’t exactly hunker down by the fireplace.
Friday night my son, a Boy Scout, camped out in a tent to earn a Polar Bear, a Scout decoration earned by spending 24 straight hours outdoors below freezing. There was no problem with the temperature getting too high, but he was warm in a new Chaparral 0° sleeping bag by Browning. By scouting around (pardon the pun) he found one marked way down from normal price. It was still a bit more than we intended on spending on a zero degree bag, but it was so much nicer than the alternative that we went for it. He was quite pleased, and he will be camping out again in two weeks.
You’ll notice that I said “my son, a Boy Scout, camped out in a tent,” not “my son and I camped out in a tent.” But to make sure I wasn’t completely shown up by my kid, I ran in a Marathon relay this morning on a two-man team. It said 6° when I arrived at the starting line before the race.
I ran the first half, with the first four miles or so into a stiff breeze off of Lake Michigan. Once we turned a bit the wind wasn’t much of a factor, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t damn cold. Our team took third, though I must admit that even though I was pretty pleased with my 1:44:11 for the half (13.1 miles), it was my teammate Joe who picked things up and finished super strong to get us there.
This is the sort of thing people in Michigan do for fun in the winter.
BONUS: Though an oldie, this is certainly an appropriate goodie:
Michigan Temperature Conversion Chart
70° ABOVE
Floridians turn on the heat and unpack the thermal underwear.
People in Michigan go swimming in the Great Lakes.
60° ABOVE
Texans light their pilot flames.
People in Michigan plant gardens.
50° ABOVE
Arizonians shiver uncontrollably.
People in Michigan sunbathe.
40° ABOVE
Italian & English cars won’t start.
People in Michigan drive with the windows down.
32°ABOVE
Distilled water freezes.
Lake Superior’s water gets thicker.
20° ABOVE
North Carolinians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves, and woolly hats.
People in Michigan throw on a flannel shirt.
15° ABOVE
Philadelphia landlords finally turn up the heat.
People in Michigan have the last cookout before it gets cold.
0°
People in Miami all die.
Michiganders lick the flagpole.
20° BELOW
Californians fly away to Mexico.
People in Michigan get out their winter coats.
40° BELOW
Hollywood disintegrates.
The Girl Scouts in Michigan are selling cookies door-to-door.
60° BELOW
Polar Bears begin to evacuate the arctic.
Michigan Boy Scouts postpone “Winter Survival” classes until it gets cold enough.
80°BELOW
Mount St. Helens freezes up.
People in Michigan rent some videos.
100° BELOW
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
Michiganders get frustrated because they can’t thaw the keg.
297° BELOW
Microbial life no longer survives on dairy products.
Cows in Michigan complain about farmers with cold hands.
460° BELOW
All molecular motion stops (absolute zero on the Kelvin scale).
People in Michigan start saying, “Cold ’nuff for ya?”
500° BELOW
Hell freezes over.
The Lions win the Superbowl!
Tags: MI
January 27th, 2009 at 9:47 am
Not to shill for LL Bean, but when I needed a bunch of camping stuff, i.e. tent, bags, thermarests, pack etc., their prices tended to be as good if not better than anyone else’s. When you consider Bean’s return policy it makes shopping with them a no brainer.