Weather Weary and Wise
Thursday, February 14th, 2008 04:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jesse_the_kWisconsin's hard winters make for closer friendships, forged in ice. In my well-spent youth, I loved to walk on the lakes and railroad tracks on the very coldest days. I could make my own warmth from the inside out, and savor the natural world through the hoarfrost lens.
As I've slowed down, winter has become less of a challenge and more of a prison. It took a decade to get the lightbox time just right to balance the depredations of less daylight. Now that I care to go out, getting out is no longer simple.
The powerchair battery performance plummets to less than three miles when the temperature dips anywhere below 20° F. When there's more than 3 inches of snow, the chair simply can't proceed. When even one person on the block hasn't shoveled their sidewalk -- or even worse, when they've cleared a path only one shovel wide -- I must choose between veering into the street or turning around and retracing my tracks in defeat.
Though I've certainly acquired, and pile on, enough layers to choke a dinosaur, not even knee-high Sorels & my swashbuckling leather cape can keep me warm when I'm sitting still outside. I was twisted enough to actually enjoy nose-freeze and eyelash-crunching temperatures like -15°F, but those days are past. (Fun fact: at -15°F, you can throw a cup of boiling water into the air and it freezes before it hits the ground.)
One thing keeps me from going completely bat-shit: paratransit. Thanks to the scores of disabled Madisonians who made it happen even before the ADA mandated it, people who can't use the fixed route bus (that's me when there's snow) can schedule door-to-door rides for just twice the bus fare. Yes, I have to plan a day in advance, which I'm lousy at. Yes, every trip takes at least an extra hour because it's a shared-ride service.
Yes, some of the drivers are annoying mumblers who play Rush Limbaugh (and worse) at top volume. But then there's![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
busman1994, who just dropped me off after the world's dullest meeting. This is why I love Madison! Not only does paratransit enable me to ply the wide world even in this snowiest of winters, it even has some drivers WAOLJ!
As I've slowed down, winter has become less of a challenge and more of a prison. It took a decade to get the lightbox time just right to balance the depredations of less daylight. Now that I care to go out, getting out is no longer simple.
The powerchair battery performance plummets to less than three miles when the temperature dips anywhere below 20° F. When there's more than 3 inches of snow, the chair simply can't proceed. When even one person on the block hasn't shoveled their sidewalk -- or even worse, when they've cleared a path only one shovel wide -- I must choose between veering into the street or turning around and retracing my tracks in defeat.
Though I've certainly acquired, and pile on, enough layers to choke a dinosaur, not even knee-high Sorels & my swashbuckling leather cape can keep me warm when I'm sitting still outside. I was twisted enough to actually enjoy nose-freeze and eyelash-crunching temperatures like -15°F, but those days are past. (Fun fact: at -15°F, you can throw a cup of boiling water into the air and it freezes before it hits the ground.)
One thing keeps me from going completely bat-shit: paratransit. Thanks to the scores of disabled Madisonians who made it happen even before the ADA mandated it, people who can't use the fixed route bus (that's me when there's snow) can schedule door-to-door rides for just twice the bus fare. Yes, I have to plan a day in advance, which I'm lousy at. Yes, every trip takes at least an extra hour because it's a shared-ride service.
Yes, some of the drivers are annoying mumblers who play Rush Limbaugh (and worse) at top volume. But then there's
busman1994, who just dropped me off after the world's dullest meeting. This is why I love Madison! Not only does paratransit enable me to ply the wide world even in this snowiest of winters, it even has some drivers WAOLJ!