On Feeling Cold
This was supposed to be about some books I've read but turned into something completely different!
Hi again,
I’m not sure where the last few months have gone. Swallowed by autumn, here in the Northern Hemisphere. Billowing clouds sweep across the sky and trees are shedding the last of their leaves as winter creeps into our bones…
But only when we’re outside! Because I live in the land of excellent central heating! Which is such a relief! When I tell people here that I’m from Australia, they automatically think you’ve never been cold, have perpetual summer, are at the beach all year, swim whenever you want… Of course, if you’re from northern Australia, all of that is possible (except the swimming all year, because, you know, crocodiles and stinging jellyfish!)
As someone who has grown up in the southern parts of Australia, I know cold. Perhaps not the minus 30 degrees type but there were regular frosts in the winter where I grew up. All the grass would be icy, slowly melting as the sun climbed its way up the blue sky. A frost always meant clear skies and the sun was only a little warming. We had a wood house built on small stilts. No underfloor heating. No insulation. Just what were the builders thinking? Not of our chill blains, of that, I can be sure!
Our bathroom had a small wall heater, of the glowing element kind. But we never used it.
WHY? Well, I actually don’t know. I do know that on the odd occasion we switched it on, it smelled of burning dust. It was pretty gross so we switched it off again. A shower in the morning meant a dash from the warm bed, across the carpeted bedroom to the very cold tiled bathroom, jumping up and down waiting for the warm shower then hopping in to warm yourself. If you’d been smart, you’d have left your school uniform on the plugin oil heater in the open lounge/dining space to warm. If not, it was a dash back into your room, hoping the lovely warmth of the shower didn’t dissipate too quickly.
Four layers of clothes later (because whoever heard of a proper jacket?), you’d be eating your brekkie (Aussie for breakfast), before dashing to the car, driving the 10km to the nearest town (or mum did because I didn’t get my licence until my final year of school), then another hour (or 60km) on the big bus. All whilst rubbing your hands together, hiding your face in your scarf, wishing the bus had a working a heater (it didn’t have airconditioning either!)
I didn’t really know that there were houses that were warm all winter, all rooms warm instead of heating one then dashing to bed, hoping you’d remember to put on the electric blanket. As an adult I’ve able to choose places to live in Australia that have insulation and decent heating, but nothing quite beats the gentle water filled elements on the walls here, with triple glazed windows to really keep the warmth in.
They have a saying here in Finland:
There is no such thing as bad weather, just poor clothing!
Having seen some of their incredible outdoor clothing and shoes, I would have to agree.
So I no longer have to feel the deep, bone-chilling cold, despite the outside temperature getting down to minus degrees. I no longer have to wear many layers because I have great clothing, warm jackets, triple glazed windows, a beanie made of yak fur, and central heating.
Sometimes, when you sit down to write something, another story takes over. I wanted to write about a few life-changing books I’ve read recently, instead, this memory poured out! So here’s a snippet of what’s been going on…
I’m Currently Reading: The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell (I also recommend watching the film Finding Joe)
Highly Recommended Non-Fiction: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Sand Talk by Tyson Yunkaporta
Please watch: My Octopus Teacher on Netflix. It’s amazing! I wrote a poem about it.
Great Recipes: I’m currently loving this Basil Pesto Cashew Dip with Parmesan Crackers
I’m Working On: a poetry e-book which will be available for free!
Thanks again for reading Northern Notes ~ I’ve been posting regularly on Instagram if you’d like to connect there. Feel free to hit reply and let me know what’s going on in your world.
Lisa x
Well that sure brought back some memories! I’d forgotten about the bar heater in the bathroom! I never use the heater I have now because warm bathrooms feel weird after a hot shower! 😂 It amazes me that double of even triple glazing isn’t mandatory for building in Australia. Such a waste of energy in summer & winter.
Lovely. We lived in Latvia, and had similar winters as Finland does. A bit shorter, maybe. But also the minus almost 30 in winter. It was actually quite bearable. Indeed, with the proper clothing. Loved reading this, Lisa.
Now, what's going on in my world... well, clearing out the house. Getting rid of some of the things we have been moving around with us for many years. And a new adventure is calling us. So a new move is nigh. Exciting times.
On top of all that, a weekly poetry share over on my own substack thing. Which I started because I liked your newsletter. I think you are already subscribed.