Canadian immigrants winters

Snow


Not feet or meters of it, but it’s here and the ever colder temperatures mean it’s staying. I think it was closing in on May before the ground was free of it this last year.

I love what passes for summer here. The near eternal daylight when the sun is up in the middle of the night and doesn’t set until well after eleven pm, and the yellow of the canola fields which nearly surround our hamlet. But the price is a winter with the staying power of the Energizer bunny.

I am too old to need a white Christmas. The magic doesn’t work for me. In fact having a child is what killed Christmas and white powder won’t bring it back.

I am not an enthusiast of winter sports though I toyed with the idea of cross country skiing before we were tempted into the Texas relocation which ended up not happening. So skis were never purchased and the hockey skates that took their place are lovely but we have an indoor rink just across the street and not enough yard for a rink of our own.

So I don’t need snow for the holiday or for fitness and I find it an annoyance that grows as I age as far as vehicles and driving are concerned. Little can tempt me into driving when ice or even just snow pack covers the road. I do it grudgingly and only because I don’t want my family to starve or my bum to grow too large from lack of going to the gym.

I am a Canadian now. I will man up and endure as all good Canucks do. But I reserve the right to whine a tiny bit between now and early May.

The Snows of April


When I first moved here I encountered many natives who were concerned that I might have difficulty dealing with the harsh Canadian winters. Frigid temps. Elk high mounds of snow. Dark depressing months that saw less sunlight than the toes of a very fat man. But I did rather well. I ventured out when Canadians were cowering in their homes. I didn’t don long-johns until November and had them off a month or more ago. I come from the Midwest people, not California. As the snow began to melt and the weather warmed, I was ready for my first Canadian winter to melt into spring, a clear victory for me.

The weekend before last was a beatific example of spring. Warming winds and sun. Jacket doffing, capri and short weather. This last Saturday it started to snow. A lot. This morning it stopped. There is now more snow on the ground than accumulated all winter long. 

I survived winter quite well, thank you very much. Winter is nothing here in Canada. It is the spring that is a bitch in heels. She will take some getting used to.