Clayt's Comments on Cold - 12/29/06

So, I know we have really beaten the “cold” thing to death. But let me relate to you another story of the epic cold that is Mongolia. When we arrived people told us that it was unseasonably warm. They said, “it will get a lot colder than this.” They would then laugh the ominous, sadistic laugh of one who can’t wait to see your eyelids frozen shut. Now that cold has come.

Jessie wears her scarf over her mouth and nose (coupled with her hood she looks like a fashionable snow ninja), and ice continues to form on the outside of her scarf as she breathes. It is an interesting phenomenon. It literally takes us about five minutes to equip for a trip outside and five minutes to get all of our cold weather gear off. That’s a little annoying.

Changing gears just a little bit, did any of you ever see that movie “The Call of The Wild”, or is it “White Fang”, or some other Jack London-related movie. It’s the one where the guy kills the dog and slices it open just so he can put his hands inside it to keep warm while he walks. That used to seem ridiculous… until I did the same thing yesterday.

Well, OK, I didn’t do that, but I thought about it. All right, I was never too serious about it, and the sight of blood makes me queasy. Hopefully I am never in a survivor, kill-or-be-killed situation. If I am, just start making my funeral arrangements, because I will be dead.

On that note, have a happy New Year! Just remember, we’ll have celebrated it first. We are so advanced here. Bow down to our magnificence.