Article posted Wednesday, August 13, 2014 1:22pm

Door County residents complain about the cold and snow of the winter of 2013-2014. But at least most of us had warm homes in which to isolate ourselves from the elements. The early settlers of the peninsula had it much harder. A few froze to death during the coldest months. Here is a story about really cold weather. The British explorer Apsley Cherry-Garrard was involved in several Antarctic expeditions. In his 1937 book, The Worst Journey in the World, he wrote about an expedition where perspiration froze in sheets to the inside of his clothing. He described one especially bad night in his tent. “I [suffered] a succession of shivering fits which I was quite unable to stop, and which took possession of my body for many minutes at a time until I thought my back would break, such was the strain placed upon it.” “The minimum temperature that night was minus 75o F.” “All my teeth, the nerves of which had been killed, split into pieces.” And fillings in teeth were said to pop out like orange seeds. (from Dennis & Wolff, 1992, It’s Raining Frogs and Fishes, Harper Collins, NY)