On Experiencing True Cold – And the Strange Things That Happen When You Do

Mark Twain and arctic cold“The captain had been telling how, in one of his Arctic voyages, it was so cold that the mate’s shadow froze fast to the deck and had to be ripped loose by main strength. And even then he got only about two-thirds of it back.”
-Mark Twain, Following the Equator

It’s more than “a chill”. When it gets cold, arctic cold, funny things happen. It’s a kind of cold that hardens and bites all it touches. The very air you breathe turns crystalline, like fine beads of tiny white diamonds. 

Everything turns to ice if you’re out in it long enough.

Even your own shadow.

 

 

 

Photo from the first edition of Following the Equator – Source: TwainQuotes.com

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