ReNe: walking to work

I walk to and back from work everyday, a trip that takes about 25-30 minutes each way. In the past two weeks, it has actually been surprisingly enjoyable; temperatures hovered around zero Celcius and I found the cold air bracing. I've also taken to under-dressing a little so that I don't end up sweating when I reach my destination. When I first thought about walking to work in winter, I was a little daunted and even contemplated buying a monthly subway pass; on hindsight, the cost of such a pass could have bought me a nice pair of boots every month!

But that was *last* week. Temperatures dropped suddenly over the weekend, and was -12 Celcius (according to my Mac dashboard) when I walked out this morning. I dressed as I normally did in two layers: a long-sleeve T-shirt and my trench. The only concession I made was to pick up my mittens instead of gloves, and a scarf. It wasn't so bad, I thought, until the winds started to blow. Toronto, I'm starting to discover, can be freaking windy.

Half-way to Dundas Street, where I work, my face was starting to feel decidedly numb, so I pulled up my scarf.  It's a nifty thing I got when I was still motobiking; a tubular piece of cloth with no seams, so I can pull it up to cover my nose. Interestingly, even though it's just a thin piece of cotton (I had bought it for motorbiking in tropical climates after all), it worked very well at keeping the lower half of my face warm because the scarf is loose and most of the warm, moist air I exhale gets circulated back within the little tent-space. I did get many odd looks though. What I really would like to get would be a jacket with a stiff, tall collar that is able to button all the way around -- I saw a woman wearing such a trench and I think it looks very stylish, yet functional.

"There is no bad weather, only bad clothing."
(I saw that in MEC but if I'm not mistaken, it's actually a Swedish saying.) Anyway, I think that's pretty good advice. Now I am hoping the temperatures would drop even further so I could try out a pair of leather pants I got for $6 at Goodwill.