Monday, January 19, 2009

More Assignments Completed...

“Do a photo profile of winter life in Manitoba…how do you people survive?!”

Well, I wonder this every winter myself. How do we survive?! Well, I have a few pictures to help me explain this phenomenon that we call life (in winter-y Manitoba).

Here in Manitoba, we have electric cars. We plug them in and all winter long we can run without gas! Nah, just kidding. They’re called block heaters.

We also have windows…they enable us to see the beauty of winter, without having to venture outside. Also notice the cushy chair in front of the window. This is for watching the snowfall and staying inside where it’s warm.

Ther-mo-stat. This is another integral part of a Canadian/prairie winter. Just crank ‘er on up, and she’s good to go! I don’t know what I would do without the furnace!






Hmm…what else? Aah, yes. When the dog needs a walk and it’s -50 below, no amount of block heaters, windows, cushy chairs, or furnaces will make that walk any less cold. After my walk today, I laid out my clothing, layer by layer, on the kitchen floor so that I could show you what it takes to survive here in Manitoba.

I’ll start at the bottom and work my way up. First, we have some nice thermal boots. They keep moisture out and heat in. Inside those boots, nice warm socks. Today there was only one pair, but many days I wear two or three pairs for my walks. Then we have the ski-pants. On this particular day, I wore two pairs…first mine, which sport the full shoulder straps and bib, then my husband’s on top of that. (The extra layer of pants helps keep that wind-chill out.) Above the ski-pants, I have my trusty winter jacket. I don’t go anywhere without it these days…except maybe to start the car (and back it out of the garage without closing the driver’s side door – oops!) or take out the garbage. Then there is a neck-warmer and scarf. Just one allows all the cold wind right through. (Also, if you double up, you can cover your face with one and your neck with the other when it gets really bad.) A toque up top, covered with the hood of my jacket, and I’m good to go! Oh, and mittens. I wear a pair of mini-mitts for fiddling with the leash or whatever else, and then a pair of wool-lined, leather mittens. And that about does it! That is how I stay warm in winter!


Geometry Assignment...shapes!
Circle...








Circle, rectangle, triangle...












Rectangle...












Triangle(s)...












A ball formed of triangles...










And one more self-portrait!


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice work! :)

Peter said...

OK, this pretty much confirms it for me ... why are not prairie people ruling the world?! ... they seem crazy enough to just pull it off! All that planning ahead just to let the dog go pee ... go figure :).

Anonymous said...

Ha ha ha, oh I enjoyed that post....

Alicia Buhler said...

Nice work Niki! Very creative. The picture of the snow gear looks like the rapture has happened.

I should have taken a picture last week when it was -20C here...there is one lightpost on our parking lot that has an outlet on it so the Canadian students' cars were all pulled up next to the light post with their block heaters plugged in!

I know it might not seem great at the moment, but if some day you move to a warmer climate you'll enjoy the bragging rights that surviving Manitoba winters affords you. "-20, that's nothing! Back in MB it gets down to -50, so cold that your nose can break off!" Oh, the things that some people will believe.