After a 24+ hour dumping in our lovely snowbelt, we collectively wondered if it could get any worse.
Then it of course…it did.
The temperature rose and still more snow fell but this time it was the slushy backbreaking kind. And we wondered if it could get any worse.
Then of course…it did.
This time a cold snap descended upon us, instantly turning that thick wet veneer of snow into an impenetrable layer of fortified ice suitable for an American tank.
However yesterday and today are the Holy Grail of life in Barrie…a bitterly strong wind…with snow. This manages to create the beloved drifts that contour our landscape like a sub-zero Sahara. This exasperates the OCD shoveler as all clean/low spots instantly fill with a surging tide of unending and unyielding snow.
This is what forges the character of Canadian Belters. It separates the men from the boys and the women from the women who are uncomfortably good at sports. When the going gets tough, the tough curse, swear and shovel some more.
Many Belters hit the ski hills this time of year. Unfortunately for me I do not enjoy winter sport. I find them…well, cold. It never made much sense to me to exacerbate this frigid situation but adding speed and therefore windchill. Therefore I do as indigenous bears do. I hibernate and dream of green grass and warm winds.
Although I’m not proud of my decidedly duck and cover approach…I see I’m not alone. Facebook “Countown Status Season” is upon us. As other dreamers book vacation getaways, they pacify themselves with counting the days to this temporary liberation.
However we all know the truth. We are going to end up right back here and tormented for much longer yet…like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day or a wedding speech that begins with “I’m not very good at these”.
Trips of course carry with them the double wammy of spending our much coveted dollars, coupled with the inaction of not earning. Not an ideal long term solution. So is there another more consistent form of escape?
No. Not really.
Studies show we watch a hell of a lot more TV this time of year, clearly another by-product of my fellow hibernators. Reading books and exercise also gain slight upticks, but let’s be honest these aren’t as high up the list as we would like to pretend at cocktail parties. Cocktail parties being another activity none of us really partake in.
No I think what we do best as Canadians is grin and bear it. Buck up and get through it. It is what it is. Like death, taxes and a Chris Rock movie.
However this is what makes up the sour and the sweet of life. By braving the hardships of winter we can now truly appreciate and enjoy those idyllic summer nights.
Sure there will be days when our hands are so cold they ache; When we can’t shake a chill to the bone; When sniffing becomes a cadence in casual conversation that we not only accept but become oblivious to. Days that have heart pounding moments when our cars lose grip in such a way that impact seems imminent.
This is what binds us as Canadians. Better even…Belters. We endure, persevere and earn the right come summer time to say “This is a beauty fucking day”. For we know what a shitty day is. We know what a 100 shitty days strung together are.
So pass us a cold beer, pull back the deck chair and let me enjoy this moment more than any Californian could ever dare.
We may be at war right now my fellow Canadians, shoulder to shoulder in the foxhole, but with each passing day we get ever closer to our salvation…to victory.
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