A tale of winter on the solstice which might turn into an advertisement

I'm continuing to think about my changed relationship with winter. As someone who really struggled through winter, I'm still surprised that this isn't the case anymore. I've written other posts about this, but I have two new pieces of information to share. 

The first happened during the huge round of snow we had a few weeks ago. I happened on a picture of tow trucks towing cars in Evanston because the street needed to be plowed. What I found interesting was it was taken on our old street not far from our house. Suddenly I was remembering what a heavy snow was like. We had a driveway, so didn't need to worry about towing, but the more snow there was, the narrower the street became. I would dread this because backing out our 15-passenger van was extremely challenging with the much more limited space. It gave me a sense of claustrophobia and I dreaded it. Literal dread. I don't miss that. There's plenty of room here for the snow and while it can get slick, it doesn't fill me with dread. Just leaving the house is so much easier. 

The second thing happened a couple of days ago. I've mentioned we've been having odd and volatile temperatures. The day previous it had been quite a bit above freezing, but was due to go back in the low teens that night. I new this, but for some reason I didn't dress for it that morning. I was still wearing layers, but they were cotton, and I didn't take my heavy wool hat and gloves out to the barn, either. No, I have no idea why. 

Well, it was a mistake because I was cold. Miserably cold. I was so cold that I could barely stand to be out there, so did the bare essentials and headed back inside. I hadn't been that unhappy outside in a very long time. Contrast that to this morning, where we were back in the low teens again. This time I put in my usual cold weather barn outfit... Underlayer, layer of light wool, covered by my thick wool barn sweater. I wore my double layer wool hat and my leather and waxed canvas mittens with wool linings. For outerwear I have a scarf, a vest, and a canvas coat. I carry lighter weight gloves and a headband in my pockets. I am perfectly comfortable in this. In fact, usually by the end of the barn chores I have unzipped a coat zipper and downgraded the hat and mittens. That's what I ended up doing this morning. 

What struck me was that the temperature of these two mornings was exactly the same, the only difference was the amount of wool I was wearing. The difference was significant. One morning I could barely be outside, the other I felt absolutely comfortable the entire time. 

If you hate being outside in cold weather, you need to change what you're wearing. I always heard this, but it was always so miserable that I couldn't quite believe it. The key isn't heavier clothing; none of my coats would be considered heavy winter wear. The key is multiple thin layers that have at least one layer of good wool in them. It truly does make that much difference. I've owned an expensive hi-tech winter coat and it was not warmer than my wool barn sweater, vest, and canvas coat. 

So buy wool. It's renewable, extremely effective, kind to the environment (as long as it's not "washable" wool which has been chemically treated), and effectively keeps you warm even when wet. You don't need expensive merino wool for this. None of this needs to touch your skin. It's one reason I wear the scarf because it protects my neck from the wool of my barn sweater. Other pluses of wool while I'm on the subject... wool is naturally fire resistant as well as water resistant. It is also anti-microbial so it doesn't absorb oders and thus doesn't need to be washed as often. And it breathes!