Cold Blooded
The silent predator looked down from a height upon it's unwary and unaware prey. Soon ... soon... just a little closer ... wait, not too fast ... the timing has to be just right. A little droplet of water fell, warning the prey of the danger if only he had been paying attention.
Obliviously, I walked down the snowy sidewalk. It's an obvious point, but you have less traction for walking when there is snow on the sidewalk. I have to concentrate to walk smoothly and avoid the occasional patches of slick ice. If I don't I might fall or run into the many fast moving russians all around. The snow is slippery, but the ice is deadly. Well, not deadly in most cases, but you can slip and fall pretty hard. I didn't pay attention to what was going on above.
Yes, yes, one more step. One more second of warmth. One more drop. Now I have you. The predator, released from its bond, swoops down ...
I wasn't looking. I didn't know it was coming. It didn't make any noise. I didn't hear it. It just fell ... silently. Swooped down from where it had been attached to eves of the building above. An icicle, released by the warmer temperature and it's growing weight. It had slowly built itself up, drop by drop, into an icicle of damocles and then, as I approached the building where it was attached, the string was cut and it began to fall. Down it dropped and still oblivious I walked. Completely unaware of the danger. Unaware until it actually struck, smashing through the head of the pedestrian ahead of me...
OK, nothing like that happened at all. But I am assured that not only could it happen, but many people die each year from exactly that. Here in Saint Petersburg, they are pretty good about closing off the sidewalk and knocking them down as soon as they can, but you have to be aware.
Here's a picture of some of these cold blooded predators:
Can you see 'em up there? (you can also see how the sidewalk is closed until they knock them down)
Warm Blooded
So it's pretty warm as I write this. It's actually raining outside (that means it's like 1 degree above freezing). But a little while ago, it was so cold that the locals were complaining. The thermometer said it was -20. My friend Vera said that she comes from a place where it is regularly -30 in the winter but she assured me that it didn't feel as cold as that days -20. I am used to being the wimp when it comes to cold around here. After all I am surrounded by russians who live in this stuff every winter. In this case I was not that bothered by the cold. I'm not saying I wouldn't have rather been lying on a beach, but once it's damn cold, it's damn cold and not really any worse. There are two qualifications I should add here. One is that we didn't actually have to be outside for all that long. I walked for about 20 minutes and my face got numb but the rest of me was fine (hat, gloves on, hands in pockets) and then we went inside where it was about 22 and cozy). The other is that I have a particularly warm parka and my boots are kind of overkill for the city so I may be more resistant to cold based on my artificial insulation. I don't care. Not cold is not cold.
Um, there's no other kind of blooded ...
So as I said the weather has "warmed up". Is this good? Not really. It's still too cold outside to go for a run. Well actually it's not too cold. It's actually too warm. See the weather warmed up enough to where the snow melted so there was water all over the ground. Then it re-froze. Not as snow, oh no, that would be too easy. It needs to fall to be snow. If it's just frozen water, we call that ice. Yes, the streets of Saint Petersburg basically became a giant ice skating rink. The first day that happened was the day I had to walk the furthest to get to work. Then I decided to walk to the next place I was going. And after that I had to walk home. It was treacherous. I didn't fall. I saw some locals fall. I quietly gloated to myself. I'm sure my come uppance is on its way the next slippery day.
The silent predator looked down from a height upon it's unwary and unaware prey. Soon ... soon... just a little closer ... wait, not too fast ... the timing has to be just right. A little droplet of water fell, warning the prey of the danger if only he had been paying attention.
Obliviously, I walked down the snowy sidewalk. It's an obvious point, but you have less traction for walking when there is snow on the sidewalk. I have to concentrate to walk smoothly and avoid the occasional patches of slick ice. If I don't I might fall or run into the many fast moving russians all around. The snow is slippery, but the ice is deadly. Well, not deadly in most cases, but you can slip and fall pretty hard. I didn't pay attention to what was going on above.
Yes, yes, one more step. One more second of warmth. One more drop. Now I have you. The predator, released from its bond, swoops down ...
I wasn't looking. I didn't know it was coming. It didn't make any noise. I didn't hear it. It just fell ... silently. Swooped down from where it had been attached to eves of the building above. An icicle, released by the warmer temperature and it's growing weight. It had slowly built itself up, drop by drop, into an icicle of damocles and then, as I approached the building where it was attached, the string was cut and it began to fall. Down it dropped and still oblivious I walked. Completely unaware of the danger. Unaware until it actually struck, smashing through the head of the pedestrian ahead of me...
OK, nothing like that happened at all. But I am assured that not only could it happen, but many people die each year from exactly that. Here in Saint Petersburg, they are pretty good about closing off the sidewalk and knocking them down as soon as they can, but you have to be aware.
Here's a picture of some of these cold blooded predators:
Can you see 'em up there? (you can also see how the sidewalk is closed until they knock them down)
Warm Blooded
So it's pretty warm as I write this. It's actually raining outside (that means it's like 1 degree above freezing). But a little while ago, it was so cold that the locals were complaining. The thermometer said it was -20. My friend Vera said that she comes from a place where it is regularly -30 in the winter but she assured me that it didn't feel as cold as that days -20. I am used to being the wimp when it comes to cold around here. After all I am surrounded by russians who live in this stuff every winter. In this case I was not that bothered by the cold. I'm not saying I wouldn't have rather been lying on a beach, but once it's damn cold, it's damn cold and not really any worse. There are two qualifications I should add here. One is that we didn't actually have to be outside for all that long. I walked for about 20 minutes and my face got numb but the rest of me was fine (hat, gloves on, hands in pockets) and then we went inside where it was about 22 and cozy). The other is that I have a particularly warm parka and my boots are kind of overkill for the city so I may be more resistant to cold based on my artificial insulation. I don't care. Not cold is not cold.
Um, there's no other kind of blooded ...
So as I said the weather has "warmed up". Is this good? Not really. It's still too cold outside to go for a run. Well actually it's not too cold. It's actually too warm. See the weather warmed up enough to where the snow melted so there was water all over the ground. Then it re-froze. Not as snow, oh no, that would be too easy. It needs to fall to be snow. If it's just frozen water, we call that ice. Yes, the streets of Saint Petersburg basically became a giant ice skating rink. The first day that happened was the day I had to walk the furthest to get to work. Then I decided to walk to the next place I was going. And after that I had to walk home. It was treacherous. I didn't fall. I saw some locals fall. I quietly gloated to myself. I'm sure my come uppance is on its way the next slippery day.
