It's been 40 to 50 below here for the past week. I am not built like an
Eskimo, but more like an African (in Glenn's words). Hence, I don't adapt
so well to the cold, especially as my metabolism slows down with age.
Nevertheless, with a full head of hair I used to go around bare-headed, but
with a fake fur collar turned up to protect my ears, in the winter during
casual activity, i.e., exposed to the intense cold for no more than 15
minutes. For longer exposures, I usually would pull the hood of the parka
up over my head. (In this part of Alaska, the coldest part of the winter
almost always is windless.)
But the past few years I have developed a bit of male pattern baldness--the
doughnut hole with thin hair cover centered around the crown. And now I
find I get cold much more quickly than I used to; as a result I now
generally cover my head with either an insulated hat with ear flaps, or the
parka hood. I thought it was due to aging, but perhaps Glenn's theory
about the brain as a heat generator has something to do with it. If I lose
too much heat out my new almost-bare-spot on the back of my head, I feel
cold although the rest of my body is warm.
No sweat!
John
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John M. Miller, Geophysical Institute, Univ Alaska Fairbanks
903 Koyukuk Drive, PO Box 757320, Fairbanks AK 99775-7320
voice: 907-474-7363 fax: 907-474-7689, alt fax: 907-474-7290
Internet: jmiller@gi.alaska.edu
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