The bitterly cold weather that we’ve been experiencing day-after-day this winter has been oppressive (not to mention costly because of our high heating bills).
The daily lows in the single digits, coupled with the strong winds that have brought the wind-chills well below zero, have tested even the hardiest New Englanders among us.
We are fortunate to live on an island near the coast, where the ice-bound harbor has created an Arctic-like seascape that is peaceful and calming, leaving us awestruck every morning when we wake up and look out at the frozen tundra that surrounds us.
The usual blue of the ocean has been replaced by a sea of white, and at sunset, the fiery pink and orange hues in the sky are reflected in the ice in soft pastels.
Our daily workout routine has been altered. The sandbar near our home that uncovers for about a quarter of a mile at low tide and that serves as our personal running track has been a sheet of ice when the tide recedes.
When our cold weather first set in a few weeks ago, the sea water on the surface of the sand bar instantly flash-froze as the tide receded. But for the past two weeks, the thick sheets of ice have been left stranded at low tide, rising and falling with the ebb and flow of each tidal cycle.
Still, we’ve been able to get outside on many occasions during the cold snap and enjoy what we figure have been the coldest runs of our life. Needless to say, we were dressed for the elements with five layers of clothing, a wool cap, a hoodie, and gloves. The wind chill officially was below zero, but we ran back-and-forth in the roadway around our island on the leeward side, protected from the wind by a hill, and being careful to slow down on any patches of black ice.
Most importantly, the sun was shining brightly on these runs. Even when the temperatures are in the single digits, the strength of the sun to provide warmth is apparent and very welcome.
These runs, as cold as they have been, were far better than pounding on the treadmill in our gym. They were invigorating both for our body and our soul.
Although the early part of this week was not particularly warm — the temps reached the high 20s — it felt like a heatwave compared to the past few weeks. We shed our coat, hat, and gloves, and wore shorts for our daily runs on the sunny side of our island.
As we ran back-and-forth on our roadway for our 30-minute workouts, enveloped by the piles of snow and the ice floes in the nearby harbor, it occurred to us that as trying as our winter has been, so much of what we dread about these months is in our minds.
It is possible — with a little bit of sunshine and the right attitude — to get acclimated to the harshness of winter, and even revel in it.