The Irish Wouldn’t Survive in Yakutsk

Posted on February 12, 2026 by Gloria

I accidently came across Kiun B – on YouTube and I spent a whole evening watching her videos. She lives in Yakutsk, the coldest city on Earth.

In Yakutsk, everything is a chore during the winter because of the severe weather. In one particular video, a young boy gets up very early to top up the fire with logs because if the fire goes out the house can get extremely cold. Many homes don’t have a plumbing system. They have to melt giant blocks of ice for water, and they use outhouses and pit toilets. It takes hours to prepare the bathhouse, so baths are only once a week.

Even owning a car is a huge challenge so most people use public transport. Apart from the dangerous driving conditions, some car owners are known to keep the engine running constantly to stop it from freezing. Some use a portable insulated garage, which is like a huge quilt that completely covers the car. To keep the car from cooling down, a rubber pipe is used to vent the exhaust gas. These covers take ten or fifteen minutes to put on every time the car is parked.

Some fit parking heaters to their engines and some use timers that turn the engine on and off automatically. Oh, they have to constantly pump their tyres too. I think I’d be happier getting the bus.

Their summers are short and that’s when they prepare for their long cold winters ahead.

The one thing that truly amazes me about the people living here is how little they complain about their winter weather. They just get on with life regardless of how cold it is. They continue to go to work and school closes only when the temperature drops to −56°C. They dress up and go out socialising. They can’t be outdoors for longer than fifteen minutes, so there’s no dilly dallying.

In Ireland, the schools close when it gets too windy or if the roads get too icy. We’re just not set up or prepared for harsh weather, which is fairly mild compared to what some countries get. People here complain constantly about the weather. It’s a topic of conversation nearly every day of the week. You would think that we’d have accepted our weather for what it is. We can’t change it, but we can dress appropriately for it, go out in it, and even enjoy it.

The coldest temperature ever recorded in Ireland was −19.1°C and that was in 1881. In 2010 we had -17.5°. In 2025 the lowest we had to endure was −4.4°C

Even our coldest days are warmer than they used to be.

Learning about life in Yakutsk makes me complain less about our cold, damp weather here in Ireland. It’s not so bad, really, but… if we had nice summers, maybe the winters wouldn’t bother us so much.

When it Rains #100DaysOfOldDays

Posted on March 31, 2022 by Gloria

Day 47 #100DaysOfOldDays

Today’s post is also part of #WQW from Marsha Ingrao on Always Write Blog. Rain Has The Edge!

How does rain fit into chats about the old days? Rain is the same—probably—since the first day it ever rained on earth. I wonder when that was! Do we even know? How would we know? I’m stopping there because that kind of thing freaks me out! I like talking about the old times but NOT as far back as the beginning of time.

Rain may be the same as it always was, but in this neck of the woods, I notice one little thing that has changed.

Unless our children are into football or hurley they can’t be out in the rain. Play outside in the rain? No…they might catch a cold, the rain might seep into their pores and dilute their blood (maybe). I’d have a canary if my child was outside playing in the rain. I might get reported for neglect if nothing else.

When we were children we played outside a lot. We went home when we were hungry, at bedtime, or if our lives were in danger.

We were also mini meteorologists—all of us.

When we’d feel a few drops of rain, we’d laugh and then look up to the sky to predict our actions. Stay out or go home?

One or two pale grey clouds meant a brief shower; no need to go home.

A moderate cloudy sky with more white clouds than grey ones, meant a drizzly type of rain—it will make us wet but it will happen slowly; no need to go home.

A cloudy sky with the sun peeping through a dark grey one, meant a sun shower (our favourite); definitely no need to go home.

Scattered grey clouds in a blue sky, meant slow rain—big fat drops that tumbled down leisurely, with loads of space between each one, so we could dodge most of them; no need to go home.

Swirling grey clouds on a windy day, meant find the nearest bush and stay under it until the rain passes; no need to go home.

A black sky with no sign of blue, a rumbling in the distance. Mmm…scan further afield with our radar eyes. If the hills of East Knockbride suddenly illuminated under a flash of lightening; go home immediately.

The sun shines after the storm; go back outside.

This reminds me of the time I was on the back lane smoking with my friend Anne. We were sharing a Gold Bond cigarette that she sneaked from her mother. Too engrossed in the secrecy of smoking, we didn’t look up to the sky when it began to rain.

We took shelter deep in the bushes. As we puffed on the coffin nail, the thunder lifted us out of it. We contemplated making a run for it but we were too afraid that the lightening would hit us. We stayed in the bushes shivering with fright. I don’t know about Anne, but I got into terrible trouble when I got home for staying out during the thunder storm.

Having said all that, we live in denial of Ireland’s ability to slyly amalgamate the seasons. The first sign of a heatwave and we swarm to the beach. Only to get there and realise, it’s not a heatwave…it’s just the sun coming out of hibernation. We sit on the cold sand wrapped in a towel oblivious to the grey damp clouds on the horizon. We ignore the wee drops of rain because we’ve made it to the beach and we’re all set up now—our windbreakers will keep us dry!

We go off walking in the sunshine without an umbrella or a raincoat, and then get caught in the rain. We organise barbecues when the sun comes and end up finishing everything inside on the grill.

We have Easter egg hunts—in the snow!

Yet…we don’t send the children out to play in the rain like in the old days! We’re a funny bunch really!

Silly Rhymes & Limericks WQW#12 #99wordstories

Posted on March 24, 2022 by Gloria

For WQW #12 on Marsha Ingrao’s Just Write Blog, I’m sharing an old English proverb that means, don’t be too early swapping your warm clothes for summer gear.

I wrote a giddy little Limerick about it!

In this part of the world we get excited when we see the sun shining from a pretty blue sky. We often get carried away and pull out the shorts and sleeveless dresses. This ‘typically Irish’ behaviour often leads to trips to the chemist for cold relieving remedies, because lurking in the shadows of the Spring sun, hides a chilling breeze and damp wisps, waiting to penetrate the bones of us pale Irish beings.

I really was in a silly humour this morning. I wrote this little rhyme for Charli Mills over at Carrot Ranch for the 99-word Stories Challenge. In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story to reflect the theme, “ready for a change”.

Johnny the Fool

Winter gone, seasons exchange

Johnny so pale, was ready for change

April the first, the day of the fool

He took off his shirt, in a bid to stay cool.

The sun beamed, gave him heat

He removed his shoes, to tan his feet

With his flipflops flopping, his shorts past his knees

He went to the beach, it was 16 degrees.

He went home that evening, with a pain in his nose

He was up in the night, rubbing gel on his toes

His wife was right, without a doubt