Now I’m not one of those winter haters you run into from time to time. You know, the “when is spring coming, I need for it to be spring right now” kind of people.
And, gee, have you checked the temperature on the Prairies lately? Be grateful for what you have I try to tell them.
Still, I’m getting a little tired of waking up to fresh snow every morning, even though it’s just a skiff and involves no shovelling whatsoever.
However, I did have to scrape my truck windows on at least two occasions last week and we’re nearing the end of February for goodness sake.
Admittedly we’re a bit spoiled in these parts. Usually once we’ve partaken in our wonderful Vernon Winter Carnival (great job to all involved once again, by the way) we’re kind of starting to think spring, or at least spring-like weather in anticipation of all that brings to the table.
And it has been pretty mild. Actually we didn’t even have our one or two weeks of really cold temperatures this winter, so we really have no real reason to complain at all. Not that that’s ever stopped us mind you.
Plus there’s lots of snow for winter enthusiasts to enjoy and our water situation should be fine this summer and March is mere days away so get over yourself already, OK?…..
……so along that line of thinking, you know enjoy what you have and quit complaining about what you don’t, my wife and I finally went cross-country skiing the other day.
To be honest I can’t remember the last time I went, which is kind of sad with two world-class facilities literally minutes from our doorstep.
However, when you have two kids in minor hockey, your weekends get kind of tied up for the most part, or on the odd occasion that they are not you tend to make excuses for not leaving the house (which, of course, are different excuses than the ones why you can’t do the chores that need doing around that same house, it’s a difficult balance, believe me).
So, instead of doing chores, ahem, we hit the trails of Sovereign Lake like we used to when our oldest was a baby and we used to pull him in a sled ( I won’t tell you how old he is now but some of you might know or have an educated guess, OK, already, he’s out of high school).
I guess you could say it had been a few years.
Of course we didn’t get up there until the afternoon, and apparently the a.m. was sunny and beautiful they told us (hey, there are papers to read, etc), but, hey, even though a snow storm hit halfway though Woodland Bell, it was wonderful.
That’s the thing about getting out there and enjoying all that winter activities have to offer, sometimes from the comfort of your own warm home it seems like a hassle to get out there, but when you do make the effort the payoff is huge. And that’s what you forget when you haven’t done it, well for years, ahem.
The fresh air, the scenery, the exercise, the natural high, even the exhilaration of doing something that’s actually good for you, it adds up to pack quite the wallop.
So get out there and ski at Silver Star, or snowshoe at Sovereign, or snowmobile wherever, or even just go for a walk in the snow in those Sorels you rarely strap on anymore, but get out there and enjoy winter before it’s gone.
And, when you do, and I plan on it too so we’ll see you out there, ahem, spring will just kind of arrive before you know it.
Now isn’t that a better way to approach the end of February?
By the way it’s only 28 days this year, so hang in there.
—Glenn Mitchell is the managing editor for The Morning Star
