Yep, the winter is coming

We woke up Monday in Alberta to a blast of winter snow. We were not, in any way prepared for that and it only led to winter chaos in the house. I love this country but I hate its weather. Mary and I long for the days where we can live in warm climate during the cold months. where we can say to the kids, “why don’t you fly down to Mexico for a week and bring the grandkids.” For the forseeable future, we will continue to live through weeks like this.

  1. Nic’s school camping trip.

You guessed it, his school camping trip was scheduled to leave Monday morning. They were to go hiking out in Kananaskis Country for 6 hours, then settle in for the night. If you want to see 100 parents banging their heads against the wall at the same time, you can see it while trying to educate grade 12 kids to actually prepare for inclement weather. Would he bring more than a hoodie? No. How about wear hiking boots? Nope he will climb the mountain in his Vans. How about gloves or a hat? Are you kidding, he would rather freeze. This was no joke weather that morning with snow blowing and sticking to you like concrete.

I’m happy to say he survived and he suffered along the way. His shoes were soaked in the first 20 minutes and no number of socks was going to save him. He was cold and wet and hungry and you know what, he deserved it. Do you know what else? He had a great time, salvaged his reputation by not succumbing to traditional warm clothing strategies and came home in one piece. I’m not sure when we all went from being stupid to becoming conservative adults but it happens to us all. I recall my camping trip in grade 12. I brought a sweater, 2 cans of soup, a blanket and 12 rubbers. It poured rain and all I had to show for it was the rubbers. If I was smart, I would have worn them as a rain jacket but pride stepped in there too. We all learn the hard way.

2. We have a visitor living under the stove…

You know it’s winter when the dogs won’t go outside for a piss anymore. You also know it’s winter when you see a mouse scampering across the kitchen floor.

I heard the yelp from upstairs. Why is it that the person who is most afraid of mice is the one who has them run through their feet? I wish I knew but Mary is that person. I saw it too when I moved the stove. It is the smallest little thing but it’s a quick little bugger. I was instructed to, “get it but don’t kill it.” Right, like that’s going to be simple. One evening later, I arrived home to the military grade mouse trap, loaded with peanut butter, that clearly is not going to “catch and release” the little guy. Suddenly faced with the reality of sharing a kitchen for the winter with “Manny” as I have named him, it’s ok to bring out the heavy weapons. He will eventually meet his maker and life will go back to normal but for now, Mary will look twice when entering the kitchen.

3. Snow tires – it’s a reality again

It feels like I just put the all-seasons on and now it’s time to take them off. One day, it would be nice to just have tires, not seasonal tires. Now I am scrambling around trying to find a shop that will swap them out again and not thrilled about the idea of driving on hard pack for 5 months. Think happy thoughts Albertans. Spring is right around the corner.

4. The scramble for jackets was on

You are never prepared for that first snowfall or cold morning. The car doesn’t start well. There is a level of ice or frost on the windshield. And you think, “where the hell did I put that coat?” Inevitably, you find the closet and yank that dreaded coat out and trudge out into the cold. This week, we had a funny moment with Mary’s son Rian and his coat.

At least he wore one. In fact he now has grown enough that he is in his brothers hand-me-down jacket. Monday morning, I went and pulled the jacket out, placed it on him and had him two steps out the door. I was the man! Pulled that together masterfully. Until Mary notices that his older brother has torn the vinyl down the side of the jacket and the stuffing is coming out. Many parents would be mortified and tell their kids that we can’t send you to school with a torn jacket. Oh the embarrassment!

Not this crew. Mary, who is always quick thinking on her feet, goes and grabs duct tape and decides she is going to “sew” this thing up using the most magical tool in the toolbox. Nic is standing at the door watching this debacle go on thinking to himself, “this is why I took control of my wardrobe this morning.” Meanwhile Rian, who to his credit hasn’t let peer pressure take over his desire to remain warm, thinks this is a totally cool idea and keeps the jacket in play for the day. We high-fived each other and went along with the notion that duct tape on his jacket was likely the least of his problems for the day. Awesome moment.

It’s only going to get worse everyone. We will have many stories to tell over the next 5 months. In the meantime, I choose to put my attention into the holiday tracker which says that in 29 days there is a beach in our future. I will remain in denial over October for the time being.

Marco

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