I sit writing this as the thermometer reads -25 Celcius. Too damn cold, for those of you not familiar with this method of temperature measurement. I so wanted to start the year on a good note, but sadly, I have caved to the negative vibes the weather has thrown our way. I live in a winter wonderland. If you love skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, or hockey, this is the town for you. As I have attested in a previous post, I DO love the town I live in, I just don't love the frigid temperatures that can set in. I do not enjoy putting on several layers of clothing just to be able to poke my head outside to take care of the business of life. Once outside I have to contend with a vehicle that seems to hate the cold as much as I do. Thanks to a new battery, it starts, but decidedly does so--under protest. I can hear the engine growling for the first few kilometres, and I find myself sympathizing with the reluctant metal, plastic, and assorted fluids as they propel me and my frosty, trusty chariot to my various destinations.
Winter annoys me, because it takes so much more time and effort to do the same things, that in summer, don't require a second thought. I never have to worry about getting out of the driveway, as there is no white stuff building up in a random, nonsensical fashion. Certainly, snow can be beautiful, on mountain tops, on trees... anywhere I don't have to walk on it, shovel it, or otherwise get around it. After it has been driven through, kicked around, or just been there too long, it looses it's charm real fast. I can always tell which of my Facebook friends live where there is little to no snow, as I either get comments on my snow pictures, oh, so nice, pretty, or wow, or I see their posts with more of the same on the rare occasion they get it. At this stage in the game, I am the one liking the countdowns to spring, summer, longer days, etc. The last point brings me to another big reason why I dislike winter. The long periods of darkness. It's cold, it's snowing--oh, and let's now complete the trifecta with It's Dark By Late Afternoon. A few years ago, I was realizing that this is indeed, a major contributor to my pessimistic attitude towards the season, when an observant person with whom I was conversing on the topic; pointed out that it was only downhill until the winter solstice, usually around December 21st. It was a simple point, but one I now hold in the forefront of my mind whenever the dark and the gloom of it threaten to get to me.
The weather is something that we have no control over, just recently though I read on how the Danes make the most of their winters, by doing things that go with the season, making the most of life's little pleasures. I have a list of weather forecasts for multiple cities around the globe. I have a nice mix of places that are way warmer than my current location, but also a few that are almost always colder, such as Alert, and the South Pole research station. I have cities near the Equator that never seem to deviate beyond a few degrees difference, and some that are squarely in either the Northern or Southern Hemisphere. On a night like tonight, I will quietly envy Aden at 26 degrees, or Perth (Australia, not Scotland or Ontario!) at 29 degrees.
I think I will need to put it on a to-do list to escape from winter in the Northern Hemisphere at least once in my lifetime. Maybe, I have just about had enough of the cold, because Australia sounds pretty inviting right about now!
