The Friday Five -- Winter Questions

1. What is the thermometer reading at your house this morning?

Well, hum, it was about five degrees above zero Fahrenheit. General rejoicing. It will be below zero again by Monday.

2. Snow—love it or hate it?

Love to look at it, even, at times, walk in it; but driving...makes it a real cuss.

3. What is winter like where you are?

We have two seasons, winter and road construction...no, that's just our brag. There is often permanent snow on the ground by Hallowe'en. "If your children's costumes are made to fit over snowsuits, you may be a Canadian." We often have at least one serious cold snap before Christmas, although often the worst cold comes in January or even February. I have actually seen snow falling here all 12 months of the year, but not in the same year, thanks be to God. By Christmas it is DARK -- dark when we go to work, dark again by 5 p.m. It is unwise to plant out anything but the hardiest specimens before at least the 24th of May and prudent gardeners await June 1st. Our snowfall varies wildly from winter to winter; some years the ground remains bare most of the season, other years we have had "snowbanks" higher than my head. What snow does fall is most typically light and powdery. Rarely we have a heavy "wet" snowfall of a foot or more.

4. Do you like winter sports? Any good stories?

Winter sports? you mean like cribbage and scrabble? Hey, if God had meant me to go outdoors in the winter, he would never have created the forced-air furnace. All winter sports involve falling down. And that means falling down in the snow, which is cold and wet, or falling down on the ice, which is cold and wet and HARD.

5. What is your favorite season, and why?

I do love summer. HEAT. And sun...and long, long, LONG daylight in this part of the world. And colour! Our winter is very monochromatic, although we get a lot of winter sunshine (in a near-horizontal form mostly).



Bonus: Share a favorite winter pick-me-up. A recipe, an activity, or whatever.

Well, I've often thought that HIBERNATION was an idea whose time was about due. Margaret Atwood says winter is when Canadians watch hockey and eat fat. What I like, though, is tea; or hot chocolate; or ginger tea from James Barber's book (cures early death, believe me)...you bring to the boil a cup of water or a bit more, add to it about an inch of fresh unpeeled ginger root, chopped up, a heaping tablespoonful of brown sugar, and the juice of a lemon. Throw the lemon halves in as well. Simmer it for a while. Strain and drink as hot as you can stand it...

OH and a P.S. -- sometimes we have forty below, with the aurora borealis; but sometimes we have a Chinook (pronounced sh'nook)...which is basically a Santa Ana type strong, strong, wind from the west, coming over the Rockies, warm and dry, which can raise the temperature 20 degrees in no time, erase snow, and generally make it all bearable again!