Warning: Those of you reading from the Prairies might want to breeze past this one. Sucks to be you, doesn’t it?
Been a long time since I blogged about the weather. Did you know that as a Canadian citizen, we’re constitutionally obligated to discuss the weather at least 37 per cent of the time? And with a winter like this, especially with the undewhelming performance of the Senators (hockey being the other topic we are constitutionally obligated to discuss), there’s nothing else worthy of conversation.
What the heck is up with this weather, anyway? It’s mid-January, and we’re still waiting for winter to arrive. We’ve had two, maybe three snowfalls, plus a few dustings. The temperatures have been in the range of ten or more degrees (Centigrade, bien sûr) above the norm almost every day. Quite frankly, as a cautionary tale on global warming, it’s scaring the hell out of me.
Every February, Ottawa has a winter festival called Winterlude. Central to Winterlude is the Rideau Canal, a 7.8 km skateway recently certifed by the Guiness people as the world’s longest. Also popular are the ice scupltures and the snow playground.
Who would have imagined that Winterlude, nestled deep in the cold heart of February, would be in jeopardy due to unfreezing temperatures? In the Citizen today, they had a little graphic stating that we need at least 10 days of temperatures below -15C for the Canal to freeze. There are only 22 days until the start of Winterlude, and the long-term forecast doesn’t show a single day that will get that cold.
To my great surprise, I’m finding that I’m actually missing the winter weather. I miss the way the snow insulates sound, so that when you go for a walk on a snowy winter evening, the world is peacefully silent except for the crunch and squeak of snow under your boots. I miss the ruddy hue on the boys’ chubby cheeks. I miss that biting, shocking blast of cold that snatches the air out of your lungs when you first step outside.
Who knew it was possible to have a year without a winter? And who knew I’d be disappointed? It’s just not right, I tell you. There are some things we can count on, and a cold Canadian winter should be one of them. It’s just not right.
I’m right with you Dani. Don’t get me wrong – I’m happy to head off to work *sans* Sorels, thermals and double socks – but I miss the snow. The twilight sparkles, the blinding morning glint and shine… the activities. I feel for the kids — all they can do is colour in pictures of kids making snow angels and flying down toboggan hills instead of doing it themselves. And I’ll be sad if there is no *real* Winterlude too… it just doesn’t feel right.
I hate to admit (since I am BeachMama afterall) that I too am missing just a little bit of winter. Just a little bit. Mainly the tobogganing (that is sledding down a hill, not a touque as those in North Carolina say) and the skating on the canal. I don’t miss the messy driving, the shovelling, the messy salt and the snow that the dogs bring in.
I know that my Siberian Husky is missing the snow, everytime he sees the white stuff he stays outside for a very long time. He hates the rain.
I also feel terrible for all the workers laid off from the ski hills, the owners of establishments that bank on winter to bring in the bucks.
Otherwise, I am happy to enjoy the warm weather.
I’m in Ohio in the US and I feel just like you do! I’m not a big fan of winter, but I was looking forward to taking my boys and my older one’s friend who’s never been out sledding this year! We’re all set with hats, gloves, snowpants and… nothing. It’s so very weird. And it scares me too.
Sadly, I think this is just the beginning. I’ve written something about the changing weather today too… great minds must think alike!
Yesterday I found myself in an exceptionally good mood, and then I realized why – the house was full of that wonderful ambient light reflected from the inch of snow that fell the night before. January is a dark, dark month when there’s no snow.
I don’t miss the snow at all…not at all. The kids do, and I feel bad for them, but not moi!!
My father left yesterday to go to Nelson, B.C. Let’s just say he got as far as Calgary and is still there. Not sure if he will get to his destination, or not?
I live near Blue Mt. Collingwood in Ontario, and they just laid off 1300 ski resort workers last week. Heh….then yesterday we got 15cm of snow. But it’s the below 0 temps they need for snow-making. And it’s going up to 5 tomorrow. I cringe about winter. I don’t like added hassles…but some people rely on it for a living. So for that reason I say bring it on! Besides….that child care worker that Fryman described can always keep me warm. *pulls up Google and types “child-care-provider-swimsuit-model”….and eagerly awaits results*
Winter feels like it arrived today. It was about 10F this morning when I woke up. Brrrr. It is weird, though.
Um, Critter Guy? You don’t (last time I checked) have any kids… or are you looking for childcare for Mulligan the Turtle and the fire-bellied toads?
As much as I am concerned about the climate change ramifications, I have to say I don’t mind the mild temps. But the ramifications may be hitting home sooner than expected: I heard a climatologist on the radio the other day saying that the Toronto area is likely to get some really cold temps late next week, and since we have no snow cover (none!) it could kill a lot of perennials. We just put a whole batch of perennials in our yard this summer, so now I’m wondering if I should spend Saturday applying peat moss.
There was a cartoon in yesterday’s Star (which I can’t locate on their site) which was a newspaper announcing “Tories cancel winter. Year-round summer found to be cheapest solution to global warming.”
Such mixed emotions! I am enjoying the milder temperatures in my “Back-to-running” program; it is much easier to go out in +5C than in -30C (been there done that too!).
But we just moved into a neighbourhood where there is a skating rink right in front of our house, along with a small toboggan hill. We even volunteered for rink duty – but have yet to do anything.
Unfortunate for the ski hill workers, but I hear the bike shops are doing good business in tune ups and repairs.!
I’m with you on the “it’s just not right” sentiment, in the sense that this is not the type of winter I expect in Ottawa, and it scares the hell out of me too. But I can’t say I’m really missing winter all that much. I missed the snow at christmas, but on the whole, if it wasn’t for the fact that this is a sign we’ve hurt the earth more than we can repair, I’d ask to have winter like this all the time. I hate the cold…
Hey, the Sens are sitting at fifth (out of 15 teams) in the Eastern Conference and have won 7 of their last 9 games. Hardly underwhelming, Dani.
But, I too miss the snow. Back in the summer, when I was thinking ahead to a Christmas spent in Carp instead of travelling to Southern Ontario, I was full of plans like, “And on Christmas Eve day, we’ll go toboganning and then have a fire and hot chocolate…” I hope we do get to skate on the canal — swimming up to the Beavertail shack for a treat just won’t have the same cachet.
Those of us in BC are having a hard time believing in global warming these days! Between the freak wind storms and the weird amount of snowfall, we are getting a much more wintery winter than usual. (Normally we get one, maybe two snowfalls – usually a couple of centimetres, gone in a day – but now we are on significant dump #3 for this winter, which was about a foot at our house).
Mild weather!? I’m in freakin’ Winnipeg and the temperature is minus freakin’ 40 with the freakin’ windchill. Whine all you want about missing the snow. I’ll trade you spaces any time you want. It’s colder than a penguin’s heinie!
Yeah, I’m in central Saskatchewan and we got the worst of the blizzard here. It was a scary white-out blizzard, with winds gusting up to 78 km/hr, impossible to walk in and nearly impossible to drive in. You know any old stories about prairie blizzards when people had to tie a rope from the house to the barn, or they would get lost and freeze to death? That’s what we had, right in the city. Visibility was down to 20 feet or less for much of the afternoon.
School was dismissed early. I drove to pick the kids up, and it was really scary, but we got home safely. My husband left work at 1:00 p.m., and his usual 7 minute drive took 2 1/2 hours! Others took 3, 4 or 6 hours to get home from downtown, normally a 20 minute trip.
Today school was cancelled, and it took us 3 person-hours to clear the driveway, plus warm-up intervals because the wind-chill was -43’C (which is about the same in Fahrenheit.) We heard that 3 people died of exposure in the storm.
At least people around here will stop talking about global warming for a week or two. I’m sorry your canal is not frozen, and I hope your tulips will be okay, but on the whole you are pretty lucky.
Wow!! I honestly don’t think I remember ever being in a blizzard like that. I’m glad you all are okay – and hey, how cool that you can finally comment, Sheila!!