Winter weather in Iowa produced freezing temperatures and snowstorms. When blizzards approached, Darwin Fayreweather built a log fire in the fireplace and his family gathered in the safety of the warmth. In his favourite seat, the professor read papers, made notes in his laboratory notebook and worked on his laptop. He spent hours working in that old armchair of his, computer on his lap and literature arranged in small stacks at his feet.
Darwin Fayreweather was the only one who sat in his “thinking chair”; no one else felt comfortable due to an indentation in the corduroy cushion the exact shape of his bottom. His wife recommended they get a new recliner, but the professor was not interested. Without his special seat, his work would be impossible.
While her husband worked, Sandra Fayreweather evaluated recipes for the textbook she was. With much of the writing completed, Sandra added the last few chapters before submitting her book for publication. Blustery winter days were ideal for trying new foods. Everyone enjoyed tasting cookies, cakes or mini-savouries. Served in front of a crackling fire, nothing was better!
Jay J and Megan liked to play games sitting by the hearth. Megan ensured Jay J won more often than not. Jessie joined in until she became distracted by an idea for a story and slipped away to the grey couch to write.
Everyone enjoyed the snowy, winter days spent by the fire. Sometimes, on freezing winter nights, Jay J, Megan and Jessie slept in front of the fire. The siblings gathered their sleeping bags and set up camp. Jay J liked the rustic feel the floor. Whilst Jessie preferred to sleep on the couch. They pretended they were on an expedition in the great outdoors.
On that particular snowy night, Sandra...
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...dry clothes. She hurried downstairs to change, forgetting to collect her birthstone ring.
Sandra was glad Megan and Jay J had come inside because she worried the weather was getting worse. The sky became inky, and the temperature outside had dropped below zero degrees. Darwin Fayreweather received a text issuing a severe winter storm warning followed by one from Black Oak School cancelling lessons the next day.
The blowing snow became a blizzard; giant drifts formed against the side of the house, over cars and blocking the roads. With classes cancelled, Jessie and Megan slept in front of the fire once again.
The Fayreweather twins regularly asked to sleep in front of the fire instead of in the basement and their mother often agreed. When they did stay in their room, Jessie heard Raven the shadow ghost weeping or saw her move along the corridor in the darkness.
The traveler is advised not to make this trip with the lack of his inexperience in the Yukon due to the weather, the incoming storm, and its advisories. With the subzero freezing cold temperatures that came with the storm. “Fifty degrees below zero stood for a bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens, ear flaps, warm moccasins, and thick socks.”(561)
Gioia, Dana; Kennedy, X.J. “Those Winter Sundays.” Backpack Literature. Fourth Edition. Terry, Joe. 2012. Longman, 2012. 382. Print.
To cope with the cold, I had to pack bulky warm clothing, and sleeping gear. The Campin' Gaz lantern and stove, both blue and oddly shaped, were necessary for a cold night without a fire. Large, stiff, blue tarps were needed to repel the wet snow while heavy, green foldable shovels comprised the majority of the weight in my pack. The down filled, sleeping bag received much of the attention of my pack's available space. A Kelty 5400 cubic inch Red Cloud swelled with these items, impatient to be worn.
Settlers maintained their crops and livestock, but while doing so the temperature drops past the freezing point. Children were attending school when the blizzard started to make its way toward the prairie. Unprepared with the proper clothing to at least have a fighting chance to stay warm during the frigid temperatures. These children were without over coats to keep warm, in one situation with two sisters Eda and Matilda, the author wrote “the older sister Eda took off her wrap to cover the younger sister.” (Laskin, 46) Times were very different then they are today, where heavier clothing are required and more available may not have been accessible to the settlers of that time. It was understood that so many children died with only a blanket of some sort, while walking against the heavy winds that was strong enough to rip it from the shoulders of the children. Many of these settlers died because of not dressing for the weather, or not having the resources to make or buy the
A cool Autumn breeze swept through Alex's hair. She strolled past her neighbors' house until something stopped her in her tracks. Her house was engulfed in flames. She ran up to her neighbors' driveway and knocked on the door. Tears started to stream down her cheeks. Mrs. Robins opened the door and asked in a sweet voice, "What's wrong, dear?"
When the narrator introduced the main character of the story, the man, he made it clear that the man was in a perilous situation involving the elements. The man was faced with weather that was 75 degrees below zero and he was not physically or mentally prepared for survival. London wrote that the cold "did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature, and upon man's frailty in general, able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold."(p.1745) At first when the man started his journey to the camp, he felt certain that he could make it back to camp before dinner. As the trip progressed, the man made mistake after mistake that sealed his fate. The man's first mistake was to step into a pool of water and soak his legs to the knees. This blunder forced the man to build a fire to dry his wet socks and shoes so his feet would not freeze and become frostbitten. When the man began to build a fire he failed to notice that he was doing so under a large, snow laden spruce tree where he was getting his firewood. When the man had a small fire that was beginning to smolder the disturbance to the tree caused the snow to tumble to the ground and extinguish the fire. "It was his own fault or, rather, his mistake. He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree. He should have built it in the open."(1750).
The frigid water was as cold as winter’s air on Christmas morning. We swam against the current for a while, then relaxed on our backs as it carried us down the river. We repeated this for a while waiting for everyone else to finish their lunch. Annabelle and I ran back to the bank, soaking wet after almost everyone had finished. Nate was standing up, and our eyes locked. He knew exactly what I was planning on doing.
Dave started walking home. The winter was the worst time of the year for him. He had tons of paper work, and not enough light to work with. The generator he was able to afford could only power a small wattage of lights and it simply was not enough to work with. My eyes are already bad enough, he thought as he pulled off his glasses to clean the snow from the lenses. Dave readjusted his hat to better cover his face and slid the bifocals back on his nose. Snow crunched under his feet as he trudged home. It was a particularly dead night and not even the moon dared to show his face. He had no car's headlights to light his path. All he had was the occasional street lamp, ...
I stepped out of the chilly November air and into the warmth of my home. The first snowfall of the year had hit early in the morning, and the soft, powdery snow provided entertainment for hours. As I laid my furry mittens and warm hat on the bench to dry, I was immediately greeted with the rich scent of sweet apple pie, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, and the twenty-pound turkey my mother was preparing for our Thanksgiving feast.
They went home, to the campsite, and set up to have a candle lit dinner. When they sat down Mrs. Barger
The crisp New Hampshire air chilled the private school students with its sickly cold fingers as it would rage by with a fury that would disappear as soon as it came. The grey skies which hovered above stole away the sun so that the warring world around them seemed all the more dismal and depressing. Despite the hanging feeling of dread the weather and World War seemed to influence, the boys themselves were almost giddy with the merry thoughts that plagued their juvenile minds. It was almost the end of the day which would give way to a freezing night where most people would prefer to sleep or stay indoors; however, that was not the case with these merry men of the winter session as they hastily prepared the scenery around them with the promise of prizes, the guarantee of games, and the silhouettes of snow statues.
captive by a sheath of frost, as were the glacial branches that scraped at my windows, begging to get in. It is indeed the coldest year I can remember, with winds like barbs that caught and pulled at my skin. People ceaselessly searched for warmth, but my family found that this year, the warmth was searching for us.
In conclusion the story is about a man’s struggle to make it in 75 below temp and making a fire is the only way for him to survive. London shows the theme of ruggedness by how the man seems to have no fear of a temperature of fifty below zero. The story teaches the readers that even though we may want to travel alone in the outdoors, we should always travel with some friends or stay within our limits. The man in the story is making a nine-hour trek across the frozen Yukon with only his dog in the biting cold, but after many calamities he freezes to death. He knew he was going to die if he didn’t get warm soon enough, but the cold got the best of him by freezing his arms.
The year was 1992; a cold December arctic wind had brought a chance of snow to the area. It was the weekend and time to relax after a long hard week at work. The weather service had predicted several inches of snow to blanket the region by the next day. Not to worry: it was the weekend and traveling was not a necessity.
Suddenly, I snapped awake. It really was the day of my party, and it really was pouring down rain outside. I trudged out of my room and had breakfast, all the while staring gloomily at the storm raging outside.