The Coldest

 

Winter is definitely not my season. I feel bad in cold weather.  Luckily, in my neck of the woods, it's usually  a short and mild season.

However, this year , our February  has been quite cold and rainy,  making me often think of the survival of people in those many  places where temperatures drop much below zero.  It requires special resilience and  preparadness to be able to live under freezing conditions. 

I am  familiar, of course, with  the names of the  coldest places in the world:   Antarctica, Alaska, Greenland, Canada, Siberia (Russia), the Scandinavean countries ( Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark), and Iceland.

There are some more places of which I knew almost nothing about their very cold winters, until recently while reading an article mentioning them:  Mongolia (central Asia), Kirghizistan, Tajigistan (asian Russia), Chili (South America).

Ulaanbatoor, capital of Mongolia  is considered the coldest capital city on earth (Yakutsk in Siberia is known as the coldest city, not capital). 

Kirghizistan and Tajikistan  - two gems in  asian Russia,  have very cold areas around their mountain ranges.

Chili is the closest country to Antarctica. In its southern part, there are polar frosts in winter. 

And yet. even in the worst winter months , there is life , culture, fun and...prosperity in those places.  It's mostly due to ski tourism, and all that surrounds it: the beauty of snow-capped mountain peaks, hotels, markets, winter festivals etc...

(AI  generated picture)

Clown Care

 

I've been familiar with the term 'medical clown'  for quite a while. The son of a good friend of mine, always looking for volunteering , found his vocation in clowning for entertaining hospitalized children  (that was before he started his own family and became a busy chemistry teacher in high school).

To become a 'medical clown', he had to attend a  special course and get a diploma. In his activity as a clown he usually wore a red nose, funny clothes and carried colorful baloons. He and his mother were very proud of this project.

Lately, I've become aware that there is more to it. There are 'clown doctors' , not ordinary people looking to volunteer , but professional doctors trained, in addition to their specialty, to help the patient deal with pain and fears of various medical procedures, through humor and distractiveness.

Health Care clowning is nowadays a worldwide practice.  Professional doctors and ordinary volunteers can achieve good therapeutic goals with both children and adults,  using means to create a light-hearted atmosphere free of anxiety and stress.

(AI Bing picture)

Manuals

 

Recently,   my eyes fell on a rather intriguing title :  "A manual for being human", by Dr. Sophie Mort .

A Sunday Times bestseller,  the manual is defined as a self-help book based on various principles of personality and psychology. 

The main message of the book, (according to reviews and comments), is that we, humans, are not raised to understand ourselves, and that makes it difficult for us to  understand life and the world around us.  

True.  We come into this world with no... manual attached. Parents and schools are supposed to educate, guide , teach us about  the facts and meaning of life,  They don't always manage to do a good job. Well,  nobody's perfect. Life is not perfect. 

On the other hand,  whenever we buy a specific product we insist on getting its manual. It comes under various names : User's manual,  Instructions manual, Repair manual. Manual for beginners/advanced/experts, etc...

A manual is meant to give  details about the product, and teach us how to use it and maintain it . We are more successful  when dealing with specific products than  with Life in general.  Life is too vast and complex  for us, both, as individuals and as society.

I haven't read the book yet (published in mid 2021). I think it's perhaps, an eye opener ; some readers may find answers and solutions for their problems in its content.  Still,  a manual for being human  sounds rather far fetched and confusing to me.

                                              (AI)