Pictures for Pam, Day 91: Frosty Spider Web on Frosty Fence

(+4 insets!) (view large!) :)

Holy Toledo it's cold out there today, YIKES!! A mere 27.6°F/-2.4°C--that's the coldest it's been all winter! Maybe that's not Polar Vortex Cold, but my fingers and toes have a prominent opinion about it: One Lap is the Limit! Heh…I managed to get up to the top of our hill for a lovely sunrise picture with my phone and down to the front gate to grab our garbage can (pick-up was this morning at 0'dark hundred). There I saw a pool of water that froze in several stages. The appearance reminded me of white malachite and out came my phone for another picture! Then it was up the drive with the garbage can, the handle burning cold through my gloves into my complaining hands and then I flung myself into the house and became one with the heater to warm my hands up. (You can see an inset of the pool of water along with another frozen pool I photographed a while back with a neat formation)

What the heck's the deal with extremely low temperatures?! It's just crazy how fast cold can affect you if the temperature is low enough. This begs the intellectual question: how much more does the temperature affect us when things become extreme? What I mean to say is, there's basically no difference to us when the change is in our comfort range, say 60-70°F/15.5-21°C. Big deal, who cares…we can tell there's a change but it doesn't really matter. But as we get further away from our comfort zone, how much more does this mean? For instance, does the difference between 30 degrees and 29 degrees affect us 1%, 5%, 10%, etc. Do lower numbers make this difference more extreme? Does 10 degrees and 9 degrees affect us 5%, 10%, 20%? I should look this up. I bet there is a difference because 27 degrees is FIERCELY COLD and 30 degrees is not NEARLY as cold to me.

I found a partial answer! It depends a lot on how much fat you have stored on your body and how well-adjusted you are to that temperature. So, someone who has more padding is going to be much more comfortable in the cold than a lean, athletic person. I didn't find the exact answer I was looking for but I did find a very interesting article that talks about what it feels like to be in -50 degrees vs. -20 degrees. My opinion: I would like to NOT be in those temperatures, thank you very much! :D

I was kind of surprised the frogs weren't singing since they seem to enjoy these ridiculously cold temperatures. However, all was quiet down at the pond this morning. In amusement, I pictured froggy popsicles, each with a "ribbit" ready to go but their vocal sacks were frozen so no noise came out. Give them time…it should warm up to 32 degrees down there soon enough and they'll be able to squeak something out! LOL. Tenacious little buddies. :)

Since it's so cold AND because it's the day to post my Happy Fence Friday pictures, I'm sharing an image of a very frosty fence, featuring a gossamer necklace touched by Jack Frost. This I found on our deer fencing a month or so back when we had a lovely day of heavy frost. I'm also sharing another frosty barbed-wire picture from my photo shoot last week. :)

Pam, can you remember the coldest weather you've walked around in? One year it got down to 8 degrees I think, and venturing outside was a very shocking experience. We wanted to know what it felt like…and then we didn't! Out…and yep, that's REALLY COLD…and inside again! :D What about you? For me, it's a struggle because I know the photography opportunities are amazing the colder it gets but there really is a potential danger of frostbite. I hope you've never been in a situation where frostbite was a real issue for you. I've been lucky in that regard but I've also never been stuck in a place that's too cold and I can't get out of it. Sending a nice, warm *HUGGGGGG* your way on this very cold day! :D

Explored on 2/8/19, highest placement, #1.