First thing in the morning of November 2, I opened the door for our dog Lady to go out to do her private business. She took one look at the five-centimetre-thick white carpet of newly fallen snow, then looked at me as to say, “Look what happened to my bathroom! You can do your business in a nice warm room, but you want me to go out in this? That’s not fair!”
Then she turned around and went back to her pad. I had to bribe her with a treat to
make her go out. I watched her through the window and she did her business rather quickly. When I let her back in, she looked at me again as she shook off some snowflakes, and her eyes told me that she was not impressed. Then she went and laid on her pad being happy she’s a Labrador and not a small pug or a Chihuahua.
Just out of interest, I looked up the definition of winter in the Merriam Webster dictionary, and found the following:
“The season between fall (autumn) and spring comprising in the northern hemisphere usually the months of December, January and February.
“The colder half of the year.
“A period of inactivity or decay.”
Whoa! I wondered if the person that wrote the first definition was lounging in a comfortable chaise on a beach in Arizona.
Here in Saskatchewan, well most of Canada actually except the lower B.C. mainland, Vancouver Island as well as the Gulf islands have short winters, and the Territories deal with long winters. Winter starts when the first snow hits the ground, usually late October, but at least in November.
Our winters last until the last of the snow is gone, usually late March or early April. None of this three months el Toro poopoo. Number 2 is spot on, but Number 3 gives me some pause. Inactivity or decay? Please give me a break.
Ole and Lena had bought an old, nice looking western style home in the southern part of Saskatchewan near Swift Current from two elderly sisters who were moving to Victoria, BC. The sisters had lived in the house for the last 30 years.
As winter arrived, Ole and Lena found that the house was very cold. Ole did some investigation, and found that the house had no insulation whatsoever in the walls or in the attic. Lena looked at Ole and voiced her concern.
“If the two sisters could live here all those years, well so can we!” declared Ole
confidentially.
One night in early November the temperature dropped to 15 below Celsius and they woke up to rime frost covering the inside walls.
Ole called the cellphone number the sisters had given him to find out what they had done every winter to keep the house warm. It was a very brief conversation, and Ole was shaking his head as he was hanging up the phone.
“What did she say?” inquired Lena.
“For the past 30 years,” muttered Ole while continuing to shake his head, “they’ve gone to Arizona for the winter.”
Ole was a physicist, Sven was an engineer and Lars was a computer programmer. They had been at a downhill ski resort together, and were on the way home. Ole was driving and as they were starting down a long steep hill, the brakes failed.
The road had been salted and was clear of ice, but Ole had a heck of a time trying to keep the SUV under control. They picked up speed and were going faster and faster.
Ole fought with the steering wheel and managed to get safely around the curves. A couple of times the crash barriers along the road saved them from crashing down the side of the mountain.
They were all sure that the harrowing ride would end with them being seriously injured, or even dead.
Suddenly Ole spotted an escape lane designed for run-away semitrailer trucks, and steered into the steep hill, which brought them to a safe halt. They were all shaking, and after composing themselves they started to discuss their predicament.
Ole being the physicist said, “We need to test the friction in the brake pads and measure the resultant temperature rise, to see if we can work out why they failed.”
Sven the engineer looked at the others and said, “I think there are a couple of wrenches in the back. I’ll take a look and see if I can figure out what went wrong, and fix the problem.”
Lars the computer programmer had listened to the others, shook his head and said, “Why don’t we just get going again, and see if we can replicate the problem?”
Knut went to the front door of the house and peeked through the little window at the
top.
“Winter is here!” said Knut.
“Don’t answer the door!” said his blonde wife Kari.
There you have it. Winter is here to stay.
Might as well make it enjoyable rather than being inactive or decaying. Dress warmly and bring out your cross-country skis or downhill skis if that is your preference.
Snowboarding is fun too. Lace up the skates and make it a family skating event, or better yet, grab the toboggan for some hairy downhill rides. That snowman in your front yard looks better every year.
Who needs to spend a lot of money to get to warmer climates for the winter when you can stay at home and freeze your butt off for free?
