Science Fiction has always been a fun form of entertainment for me. Science fiction can also provide a unique look at current events and societal issues. The best Star Trek episodes always had a lesson – or viewpoint as the theme of the story. Stargate SG-1 and Babylon Five accomplished the same thought-provoking entertainment.
With that in mind, I began thinking about how our world would look to friendly aliens of my imagining, observing us in secret. It occurred to me that this topic could become an occasional Bumpy Schoolbus blog topic. So here’s the second one.
Dear Centralia,
I am cold. It is an amazing, exhilarating sensation. You would have to travel all the way to the poles of our world to experience this feeling. There are so many variations here, it will be difficult for me to describe this time called winter, but I will try.
First, there is chilly. This is just a little bit cold. It begins with a feeling of mild discomfort. The local sentient species call this prickly sensation by the delightful name goose bumps. A goose is a large bird so I have not yet determined the connection to cold but the words still have an interesting sound that make me smile. I find that when I am chilly, I need an extra garment to regulate my body temperature. Here, the sentients call them sweaters. These garments are made from a variety of threads and some are quite colorful. I would like to acquire sweaters for us to place in our nest as artwork. I have a request in to Captain Klavia to see if she will agree to add this to my return collection allotment.
Then there is cold that some of the locals call bitter cold. Here, bitter is a description of a flavor that I find extremely intriguing. But bitter also means very, very cold. This kind of cold bites into the skin and overwhelms sweaters. We don multiple layers of warm clothes as do the locals. Sometimes bitter cold is a good reason to stay tucked inside next to any kind of heating device. But sometimes cold, even bitter cold, is a reason to go outside and play.
The cold produces ice and snow and during a snowstorm it is lovely to watch the falling water crystals, sometimes falling slowly and sometimes whirling in wind so fierce it is hard to see any outdoor details. This is a good time to be indoors and warm. We have sampled some of the local warming delights like tea and coffee and hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies. Snow is sometimes light and fluffy and sometimes heavy with moisture and falls deep, smothering the landscape into lovely soft forms.
Playing in the cold comes in many varieties. Some of the sentients love to sculpt snow into simple forms called snowpeople. They are very creative and these lovely creations make everyone smile. There are also fake wars called snowball fights. We declined to participate in these – some snowballs hurt as Naysho found out when he got in the middle of one fight. We all agreed that we much prefer our ocean splashing parties, especially when we add scents and tastes to the water. Here, snow just tastes wet unless it is contaminated with dirt or chemicals.
But there are many other forms of cold play. The locals strap shoes with blades fastened to the soles and glide across flat ice surfaces. I tried this and it is lovely. Once I figured out how to balance on those weird shoes called skates it was fun gliding across the icy surfaces. I forgot all about being cold. There’s a game here called hockey where teams on skates pursue a round, flat object called a puck. There are also competitions where skaters dance across the ice making amazing leaps and twirls. It is all fascinating to watch. I am quite pleased with my much lesser ability to stay upright and skate backwards – just a little – as well as forward.
Another cold play activity is called skiing. Amazingly long boards are strapped to heavy shoes. Players are carried to the tops of sculpted mountain slopes. From the tops, they slide down at breakneck speeds. The very skilled ones rarely fall (though the occasional fall can be terrifying to watch) and they compete to see who can get to the bottom in the shortest possible time. The most spectacular falls are called yard sales. This is when the slider’s equipment ends up scattered all over the mountain slope. I do not understand this reference to commerce at all. But lots of the locals, from children to elders ski or ride a variety of other devices: boards and sleds to travel down mountain sides. When they fall, they pick themselves up and go right back to sliding. I find that I prefer watching to participating in this cold activity. I think longingly of our special waterplay and the delight of sliding down warm water waves when we swim with our dolphin friends. In fact there are dolphin species on this world though that is a subject for another message.
In fact there are sentient creatures other than the dominant sentient species that also enjoy cold. There are giant cream and white bears called polar bears that live near the North Pole of this world. There are also small black and white creatures called penguins that live on this planet’s coldest southern continent, called Antarctica. There are also whales and seals and microscopic creatures called plankton. These are very similar to some of our sea life; I will save my allotted message time, tweak your curiosity, and send videos later.
There is a subculture in the dominant species that likes birds and they feed birds, especially in winter, providing extra seeds for local birds through an astonishing variety of devices called bird feeders. We researched this thoroughly and purchased our own bird feeder and seeds. I find it wonderfully peaceful to sit as still as possible and watch the variety of birds that come to feast on our provisions. They chatter and call to each other, fly off suddenly if startled, but come back to feast again. It is a delightful pastime and I wonder at the ability of these small, delicate creatures to survive very low temperatures.
You may recall the specific sentients I told you about in my first message. They appear to belong nowhere and have no homes. They manage to survive cold times though their comfort must be minimal. They live in thin tents, or sometimes discarded paper containers called boxes. Sometimes they sleep on heating grates for warmth. Again, I do not know if this is a lifestyle choice or if there is some other reason for this behavior which seems extremely miserable to me.
But let me end my message by telling you about a delightful object that makes cold comfortable. We would have no use for these on our warm world but here, I find that I like them very much and we have all begun to collect them for our use here. They are sometimes called socks or stockings or leg warmers but they keep the feet amazingly comfortable. My favorites are made of the softest threads and I sometimes fall asleep thinking about my oh-so-warm and comfortable fins and toes.
My dearest, I will share again soon. I wish you warmth and light, always.
Wanderer
