Ahh, the snow is gently falling. Big fluffy flakes. The temperature is in the minus regions. The roads are promising to be interesting, come morning. Oh, the joys of living in Alberta. I have lived here my whole life, and yet, I still can’t seem to drum up any enthusiasm for snow, cold, ice, horrendous roads and people who drive like wing nuts. A lot of people here actually look forward to winter. Think of all the fun you can have, doing winter sports, like sledding, and skidooing, and hockey. Snowmen, snow angels and snowballs. What people who don’t live here never hear about is this: Imagine gearing up, just to step outside. I actually have a winter coat that is rated to keep me warm when it’s 40 degrees below zero, doing 60mph on a snowmobile. My boots come near my knees, and are rated for -40degrees. Being that I am cold all the time, I wear the coat as soon as it hits freezing, the boots come out at around -5 degrees C.
There are days when it’s so cold that the battery freezes in the car. (Being smart Albertans that we are, we take a hair dryer, plug it in and stick it under the hood on full blast for a few hours to thaw things out). Hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do. We also have to plug in our cars when the temps start to plummet, just so’s they’ll start. And then there’s the days when there is so much snow, that either you stay home, or start to shovel. (We have a snow blower which is a nice alternative to shoveling, although if the wind is blowing, you usually get a nice face full of snow). Blech.
So all I’m sayin’ is this; winter seems to have hit here, and global warming hasn’t made its way to this area of the globe yet.
November 7th, 2008 at 2:37 am
Ahh Yes Jacqui… But you forgot a few things… What about the three feet of snow accumulating against the man door of garage… let alone the six feet against the Main-door. Talk about shovelling yourself out of the garage in order to shovel the garage access out; just ot get said anti-climatized vehicle out. Then…yeah, run back in to change gloves, warm up and return to shovelling your garage out just to get your vehicle out!! Oh, the door is opening now, but where did we put all the snow that had been blocking — how ’bout on to the driveway cuz the lawn is already full?!!
LET IT SNOW! Cheers baby!
Bern
November 7th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Sounds like alot of freakin’ fun….
So migrate…!
November 8th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Oh come on. Winter is fun. -30 beats +30 any day of the week. At least I can put a jacket on when it’s -30. You SO do NOT want me stripping down when it’s +30. And besides – I have a 4×4. I actually enjoy it when we get those 12 feet of snow. I go out and play in it with my truck. There’s only two things that suck about this winter weather: waiting for Edmonton Transit buses that never show when it’s -30 and there’s a 30mph wind; and not being able to reach the center of your windscreen on your truck to scrape it off cuz you’re too short. Oh, wait, and there’s the 8 feet of salt the City dumps on the roads – BEFORE they plow them. Yup that makes sense. I love having my truck rust out within a year. Good times.
November 17th, 2008 at 1:41 am
You are a carper, which is worse than a harper. All seasons are arranged by God and its all a test to see if we react with negativity or with praise and thanksgiving (like at least we’re not Aleut’s living in igloos and gnawing on whale blubber). That’s my sermon to you and to me! By the way what does it mean when I wake up in the morning with all the lyrics for “Unending Frustration” reverberating through my cranium? And then, what does anything mean? Is it all like a BoB Dylan song; “everybody’s wearing a disguise, to hide what they’ve got left behind their eyes…” or like any Zimmy song (it can mean anything to anyone at any time, its all in the interpretation).
May revelation come to you as you travel and read and listen and see (there’s a big picture and we just gotta stop cramming it into that 8 X 10 frame).