There’s not a lot to like about -30 C.
Cars don’t want to start, no amount of winter clothing seems to be enough to stay warm — even dogs pass up on a walk when it’s that cold outside.
None of that seems to matter to Glen Green, better known as “shorts guy” in the community. Rain or shine, winter or summer, Green wears shorts.
“Weddings, funerals — you name it. I’m wearing shorts,” Green said outside his home over the weekend.
As furnaces and fireplaces work constantly to keep homes warm during an extreme cold period, Green seems to be producing plenty of heat of his own.
Green hasn’t worn a pair of pants since the early-’90s, and he can’t remember one instance that drove him to ditch shorts. He just runs a little hot.
“Simply because they would wear out pretty quickly because I would heat up so much,” Green said. “Now I don’t have that problem.”
“I’ve had to lay in the ice, lay in the snow to fix the car. To me, it’s just not a big thing.”
While exposing skin at temperatures below -40 C can freeze skin in five to 10 minutes, according to Environment Canada, Green has his limits.
“I’m not stupid. I take a ski-doo suit with me when I’m driving. Being out here, your cheeks are no different than your knees. If your face is freezing, then your knees are freezing,” Green said.
“Who’s stupid enough to let your face freeze?”
Since he’s been wearing shorts for so long, all of his friends and family don’t think twice about Green’s appearance, especially his parents, who might have scolded him for his fashion decisions when he was a boy.
“They’ve had to go to weddings with me and funerals with me,” Green said. “Never once did they bother me about wearing shorts.”