The times that I was colder than I’ve ever been.
1964 Garden City Christmas Parade
I was five (5) years old. One of Dad’s childhood friends, Jim, owned a 1962 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible and Dad volunteered him to drive it in the Garden City Christmas Parade. We had the Parade Queen in the car with us sitting behind the front seats up on the convertible top boot. I switched between there and the floorboard at Dad’s feet with the heater blasting. Sixty years ago and I can still hear my teeth chatter.
Detroit Lions Football Game
Dad and his friend Jim took me to see a Detroit Lions football game sometime in the late 60’s. I was young enough and small enough that I didn’t even fill the seat. Dad and Jim were both big guys but that was the day I wished we didn’t have arm rests on the seats so they could sit closer together. We were in the upper deck and the winds were coming straight into our faces from the north.
Shakespeare Festival, Ontario, Canada
This time I actually was sick with pneumonia and didn’t know it. It was a school trip with our British Literature class after school let out in June. When we left, I felt fine but got sicker as the trip went on. We were staying in tents and I couldn’t borrow enough blankets. Went to the doctor after we returned home and he asked why they hadn’t taken me to the hospital.
I lump this with all of the other times that I was sick with a high fever and thought that I would shiver so hard my clothes would shake off. Including one Christmas in Florida when I was supposed to perform the Ava Maria on my trumpet for six (6) different services, but I had a temperature of 106F.
Maple River Duck Hunting
Imagine that you decide that for fun and enjoyment you would load up your vehicle at midnight and drive 2 or 3 hours through the night, to arrive at a boat launch on a river in the middle of Michigan in early November. Then you would put on a pair of chest waders and a coat, push of in your little rowboat and set up on shore in a place frequented by ducks, slip quietly into waist deep freezing cold water and wait for sunrise.
As the sunrises on a beautiful but freezing cold bluebird day you wait, and wait, and wait . . .
And you have to pee.
Easy enough to get back in the boat, take off your gloves, your winter coat and partially remove your chest waders. However, you hunting partner has taken his shotgun and left the blind to do a little deer stalking and you have no idea where he might be. I know that I don’t want to be a brown target standing in a rowboat waiting to be shot.
And to add to the misery, you are about as cold as you can be, standing waist deep in water close to freezing, with winds blustering through the trees and you still have to pee.
FUN!
Fort Jefferson Tour, Key West
Dry Tortugas National Park is west of Key West Florida in the middle of Gulf of Mexico. You can only travel there by Ferry or Float Plane. The seas on the crossing can be quite stormy. The wind and water can make the two hour ride even more miserable. And then sea sickness kicks in as well. I knew better and did not eat much for breakfast and I saved the bagel they gave us to eat for lunch later.
The trip back is equally as ugly. I found a little corner in the stern of the boat and had a very comfortable ride home. Except that I had two jackets to choose from. A fleece, or a rain shell. I chose the fleece. I stayed toasty warm all the way back. Until we stopped in Key West to disembark. Within moments I realized that the fleece had soaked up a tone of water from the waves and winds and was no longer keeping me warm.
Since I was in the back, I was the last to get off, and the walk back to my hotel was about eight (8) blocks. I stopped at the truck for an energy bar and headed for my room. Dropped my clothes and headed for the shower. I think it was 30 minutes before I could warm up and once I dried off I headed straight for the bed and slept until breakfast.