It's been cold here in Finland. The temperature has been mostly around -10°C for weeks, occasionally dipping near -20°C. (That's 14 and -4 Fahrenheit for those of you wondering.) Some people might not like this, but I really, really like it.
It's absolutely beautiful outside. The weather is perfect for winter sports at -10°C. When it's much colder, the skis and skates lose a bit of their glide. But hey, just having skiing tracks and a skating rink in good condition near home is great! Also, as it's far below freezing the snow on the roads stays packed and cycling is quite ok (I go every day).
I learned to properly wax (cross-country, classic) skis this winter. The kids now have proper skis with bindings and all, and I thought it important to have good equipment to have as much fun as possible. And after I applied new glide wax to my own old skis, I also started enjoying skiing a lot more than I ever have. Now with remote work it's easy to take half an hour break and do a couple of kilometers. My technique has never been good, but I feel like going almost every day is improving it a lot.
My ice skates were also in quite bad condition. The web tells me that you absolutely cannot and should not sharpen skates yourself, so of course I had to try it. Just manually with a couple of files. I certainly made the blades better and would try again if the skates are next to worthless, but I'll have to agree that professional sharpening is much better.
I'm really happy to have all these opportunities for exercise and relaxation in the middle of covid times. It's great to be outdoors, whether alone or with family.
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Oh, I actually meant to write about heating. That'll be another post.