occured to me the other day when I was leaving the grocercy store in -35 degree weather. At 33, I have no hesitation putting on a toque and wearing big heavy winter coats and even insulated jean. Fuck it! It's cold,I will dress appropriatly. 10-15 years ago, it would've been way more important to look good and somewhat fashionable.

Granted, this apatthy may have as much to do with being married as with age, but either way I'm enjoying the freedom of really honestly not caring about what other people think. Most of the time anyways...

   

Hell, when I lived in Winnipeg as a young teen, I just didn't care. I had wool lined boots that came up to my knees. A parka that came down to my knees and fur lined mitttens. To hell with fashion at 40 below

   

You were obviously a much smarter teen than I was.

   

Nah, I just fucking hate being cold.

If I was so smart, when our school had "Inside-out and backwards day", I wouldn't have worn my jeans backwards

   

What's really fun about getting older (older than you) is that you can say whatever you want. People will just chalk it up to your age and you can get away with more and more ridiculous/perverse/satirical/shocking stuff. I love to see the expression on their faces when I say something particularly naughty.

   

I can remember ice fishing about 20 years ago in -40 degrees weather in January with no shelter and nothing but a fire to keep from freezing.
I was lucky that my pick up truck started when the sun started to go down that night trees froze and split sounding like gun fire.
I don't pull stunts like that anymore and neither does the weather I can remember really cold weather and snow banks being over my head.
Winters seems to be on the milder side now and it seems like we are being invaded by deer and other odd critters from down south but it's still freakin cold.
I'm with you guys fuck fashion wear a toque when it's cold!

   

Brings to mind a poem from W.B. Yeats.

Why Should not Old Men be Mad?

WHY should not old men be mad?
Some have known a likely lad
That had a sound fly-fisher's wrist
Turn to a drunken journalist;
A girl that knew all Dante once
Live to bear children to a dunce;
A Helen of social welfare dream,
Climb on a wagonette to scream.
Some think it a matter of course that chance
Should starve good men and bad advance,
That if their neighbours figured plain,
As though upon a lighted screen,
No single story would they find
Of an unbroken happy mind,
A finish worthy of the start.
Young men know nothing of this sort,
Observant old men know it well;
And when they know what old books tell
And that no better can be had,
Know why an old man should be mad.

There is probably some limit to acceptable behaviour here but it is fun.

   

So true, now at the ripe ol' age of 36 I have no problems wearing my hat, mittens and my insulated coveralls and trusty Carhartt coat. Back when I was a teenager I remember running out the door to catch the bus with my hair still wet, sneakers instead of winter boots and a sweatshirt instead of having the sense to put on a winter coat. My mother yelling at me "you're going to end up with cold in your kidney's!!"

Today driving into town there were three stylishly dressed teenagers freezing their arses off huddled into their thin hoodies and skinny jeans walking down the sidewalk. Yep, that Bench shirt sure is keeping you comfortable in this raw wind. Thought to myself glad I am not that stupid anymore...haha.

   

Of course from another pov they're just tougher than we are. I certainly notice the cold more now that I'm older. People who live in the north don't feel the cold as much as us southerners either. And yesterday was a high of 7 deg vs -7 just a couple of days ago. It felt positively balmy compared to complaining about how cold 7 was just a couple of months ago.

   

Just went thru 5 days of around -40. Nasty.
I fool myself that it's because I'm not used to it anymore, 20-25 years ago a month of -40 was the norm.

And grandkids. It's great how you can fill them sugar, wind them up and then hand them back. "Well we have to go now. Bye!"

   

it drops below 20 here and I put on a sweater....not a parka, mitts and a toque like the locals. That first winter back is gonna be an expensive one...heating bills. My idea of warm is now more mid 30s with a humidity of 80 - 90%

   

Hell. I don't feel anything anymore LOL. But the real upside to ageing is being able to say any outrageous thing you want and get away with it because all the young'ns think we're all senile.






















Hell. I don't feel anything anymore LOL. But the real upside to ageing is being able to say any outrageous thing you want and get away with it because all the young'ns think we're all senile.

That sounds familiar? Does anyone know where I might have heard it?

   

   

I can see why you're laughing, you've been getting away with this kind of outrageous behaviour for years now and people still think it's just your senility kicking in, but some of us know the whole story.......

   

Totally!!