Mere Human concerns

Down coat- yep
wool hat-yep
chemical emergency foot warmer-yep
electric solar powered blanket-yep
emergency high energy rations-yep
a gallon of water for every person-yep
last will and testament-yep

My packing list is all checked and I am ready to fly to visit Nanook and my parents.I have been closely following the weather forecast for the next ten days. It says "snow SHOWERS", with a high of 18.  My sister Holly has been following my Freeze Preparedness regimen with scorn. She says I am a wimp. She lives in Chicago where the kids eat frozen waffles fresh out of the freezer.

I am hopeful that my parents still have their cross country skis. If I am going to die from blood icing my arteries, at least let me go with vistas of snow covered pine tree and the sounds of swooshing skis beneathe my feet.

My training program yesterday included test walking various jeans to see which blend of cotton/polyester could most withstand extreme cold. I had three samples, thus had to walk around the block a minimum of 3 times. And of course there were other variables. I had to test each pair of jeans with first a down coat, and then a wool coat, and then a choice of synthetic or shearling lined boots. If you do the math, this means I had to walk around the block 7,864 times to gather data from each permutation of attire. (For you real mathletes out there, this is just an approximation, which in my world means- a wild guess.)  My study was somewhat flawed in that it was only 40 degrees here in Charlotte, not 18 degrees. I had to do a little statistical analysis to trend my results downward 22 degrees.

... and for the record, I know wool pants are warmer than cotton but there is not ONE pair of wool pants in Charlotte. Believe me, I looked.

However, I did find that the 80% cotton 20% polyester jeans significantly cut the freeze better than the 98% cotton/ 2% spandex.  I must say that the spandex blend jeans were definitely cuter but cute doesn't matter when you are frozen to death with your eyeballs globules of solid ice. I also unequivocally discovered that down is much warmer than wool, and shearling beats synthetic lining. I plan to publish my data in Scientific America, if I do indeed return with all my fingers. (PS- frost bite is a serious matter not to be trifled with. Do you know that when Napoleon attacked Russia in the dead of winter, not unlike what I am about to do, his troops were decimated from 450,000 to 10,000 not from the Russians, but from frost bite? So do not listen to Holly when she calls me a wimp because cold is mortally dangerous.)

But I go to my fate with a smile on my face. I get to see my beloved first born son and my beloved parents, and I get to fly instead of drive 16 hours. I know I face certain discomfort, but the precious souls of my relatives call to me......

It is funny that this reminds me of Jesus when He says He must travel to Jerusalem. His disciples beg Him not to go, but not because He will be facing subfreezing temperatures and potential frostbite. No, they urge Him not to go for a trifling matter that everyone in Jerusalem wants to kill Him.  But He reminds them that discomfort and even death should never dissuade one from doing the Father's will. For the umpteenth time He tells them that the physical world is nothing compared to the spiritual world- and we all need to keep our sights focused on the concerns not of man, but of God.

This is oddly comforting as I head out to a world where the permafrost layer is so close to the surface.

Matthew 16:21-26
 ²¹ From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.  ²² Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
 ²³ Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
 ²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save their life^[f] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. ²⁶ What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?