{"id":6940,"date":"2021-12-15T09:48:16","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T14:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=6940"},"modified":"2025-08-24T12:17:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T16:17:17","slug":"dangers-of-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2021\/12\/15\/dangers-of-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"Dangers of Winter"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The winter season is very beautiful. But the dangers that come with it are very real. People die every winter from car accidents due to black ice and hypothermia, among other reasons. Nadezhda and Pavel Ivanik remember their first Maine winter after immigrating from Kazakhstan. They learned that American winters are different from Kazakhstan winters.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Photo from the Maine ice storm.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In January 1999, there was a slight snowfall that turned into freezing rain during the night. By morning, the entire town of Portland was covered in solid ice. Nadezhda and her husband had recently immigrated to America in the summer of \u201898 and were adjusting to life in Maine. They did not have a car because Pavel did not have a license. So they had to walk 30 minutes to their job. \u201cI had to be at work by 7:20 a.m. So my husband and I were always up by 6 a.m. because of the walk. I did not even look out the window. So when I went outside, I saw large icicles and how everything was covered. At first I was stunned by the beauty. But when I started walking, the awe turned into fear.\u201d The streets had been covered in black ice.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Nadezhda was five months pregnant at the time and she was concerned she would fall and hurt the baby. Her husband had to hold her the entire journey to work. \u201cI was basically gliding. I was not taking my feet off the ground. My husband was pulling me.\u201d Pavel said that they were too poor to afford new shoes, including boots. So he was wearing sneakers. \u201cThankfully my shoes had a good grip, so I was not sliding as much. To be honest, I did not have as much fear as my wife did.\u201d Pavel felt steady and secure in his shoes. \u201cWe were young at the time. If I fell, I would not get as hurt as I would now, at my age. I felt most concerned for my wife.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was unexpected for the Ivaniks to see this type of weather. Kazakhstan never had freezing rain. \u201cFrom where I come from, winter is winter. There is only snow in the winter season. It never rained.\u201d The temperatures in Kazakhstan are always below freezing in the wintertime, so freezing rain was unheard of. \u201cOf course we had ice. Just not black ice,\u201d Pavel said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When they arrived at work, their manager was happy to see that they made it safely. Several of their coworkers had called out, so their boss was happy that some people still made it. When their shift ended, their coworker friend offered to drive them home and they accepted.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAs soon as my friend started driving, I regretted my decision,\u201d Nadezhda said. \u201cThe car was gliding, not driving.\u201d She had wanted to get out of the car and walk home instead. But her friend insisted that she stay and that everything would be fine. As the car went up a hill, it began to slide backwards. \u201cI knew I definitely made a mistake by getting into the car. I started to panic.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Eventually, some people around the area came to help and pushed the car up the hill and the Ivaniks got home safely. Pavel thinks that if it were any other vehicle, maybe they would not have slid that much. Apparently their friend\u2019s car was already untrustworthy. \u201cShe owned an old Mercury Cougar. I do not think that this car is meant for the winter. Her car had a history of swerving in the winter. So she had a heavy piece of metal in her trunk to balance things out,\u201d Pavel said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After her stressful day, Nadezhda decided it would be best to quit her job. \u201cThe winter stress and my pregnancy took a toll on me. I was worried that another bad snow or ice storm would hit and I did not want to walk in that weather again. I quit for the health and well-being of myself and the baby.\u201d Her husband continued to work to provide for the family.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This was the Ivaniks\u2019 first winter experience in a different country. It was nothing like how it used to be back home in Kazakhstan. They learned some valuable lessons that day that they apply to themselves every winter. Even though they lived in a place that had snow, each place may have a different winter. It is good to be prepared for anything, even if you think you already know what to do. Nadezhda said, \u201cIt is better to stay home than risk your life out on the streets\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The winter season is very beautiful. But the dangers that come with it are very real. People die every winter from car accidents due to black ice and hypothermia, among other reasons. Nadezhda and Pavel Ivanik remember their first Maine winter after immigrating from Kazakhstan. They learned that American winters are different from Kazakhstan winters. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/140"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6940"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8212,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6940\/revisions\/8212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}