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Dan’s One Month Winter Report
Admittedly I didn’t believe we’d see much of Dan throughout the winter. I imagined that he’d go into some sort of Aussie-like hibernation mode following the first icy cold day of our long winter. But we are almost a month into it and his perseverance hasn’t diminished yet!
It seems as
though the Aussie really prepared himself as best he could. Gloves, hat,
jacket, and layer upon layer of sweaters, long johns, and thick socks.
However, little did he know that preparing for winter in Montreal is not
just about gathering your materials – it’s a mental game. He had a
certain arrogance about him the first few cold weeks, he thought he had
beat down those blistery days just below zero and survived the first of
many “cold” days…HA! His attitude caught up with him very quickly as we
walked through a near empty parking lot and a friend slipped straight on
his ass and into a poll. ‘Oh how funny!’ Dan thought, as he laughed
with tears in his eyes. But not ten seconds later and he too was on his
ass sliding around on his own icy tears of laughter. ‘F’kin Aussie,’ I
thought to myself.All this goes to say, Dan is officially diagnosed (by myself) as a pagophobic. What is pagophobia? An intense and irrational fear of ice. Since the fall he hasn’t been the same. He can conquer the coldest of days, trekking across the entire city for hours at a time. But at no cost will he risk another ice slip. Walking around every shortcut in town, sticking to the main roads, and walking indoors whenever he can. In trying to conquer his fear I lured him to a path laden in ice. He begged that we cross another way, go back to the road and walk on the streets covered in salt and rock, I refused. This icy path must be no longer than 60 meters, and only about two thirds of that is truly covered in ice. As I cross the path without missing a step I turn around only to see my companion still standing only about 3 meters into the path flopping around like a penguin and continuously looking up for something to grab on to. Ten minutes later he emerged on the other side of the path, out of breath but relieved.
He conquered the ice path but I’m not sure if he’s going to make it through the rest of winter. He has the gear, but the cold is getting the better of his mind…. One more slip and I suspect that’s the last we’ll see of the Aussie.
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To put it in context this is the kind of ice that is around at the moment:
(Iced Earth)
