I remember how much I complained about the cold weather when I lived in South Dakota. The long walks across the campus in air so frigid it made my lungs hurt were not what I considered fun. I also detested the snow that I had to continually scrape off my car. The fact that I was scraping the snow off half an hour AFTER I had started the car to warm it up did not help!
When I moved up here, I thought the winters would be great. The Lower Mainland does not get a lot of snow, but we are right next to the mountains, which DO receive snow. I thought it was perfect...I would be able to SEE the snow, but not have to deal with it. Little did I realize that I would not often see the snow. Why, you ask? Because of the rain. Rain, rain, rain.
We recently almost broke the record for the number of days in a row with rainfall. We fell one stinking day short...we only reached 28. I hadn't realized how gloomy things were until February hit. Granted, January was WARM, but February's sunny cold far eclipses the gloomy warmth of January! An Artic front has moved in and it has been cold for us. -5 degrees celsius can feel pretty chilly when one is not used to the winter weather, but I have found a surprising thing happening to me. I am LOVING it! With this Artic front, we have had bright, glaring sunshine every day! I wake up to the sun and I am home long before the sun has dropped behind the mountains. I can actually SEE the gorgeous mountains in their white-capped beauty because the gloomy, dark rain clouds are not covering them. I love pulling my visor down on the way to work and squinting all the way there. I do not complain about the fact that the sun is in my eyes, because I adore the fact that it is!
This recent cold snap and sunshine has made me realize that it doesn't matter how far you are from where you were raised, there is always a little bit of it inside of you. Lately I have felt more at home than I can ever remember feeling while up here. I can't wait to see my breath in the air and experience that cold, crisp rush that comes when I step out of my cozy home. I guess I will always be a South Dakota girl at heart.
Well, I am always going to be a SD girl too, but I LONG for the days when I don't have to remember my gloves and coat! I love summer, especially here, because it's not as miserable as the South, but it's still warm. Nason told me yesterday that his favorite season was winter because he loves the snow!
ReplyDeleteI miss the snow sometimes too...It's weird to think that only last year, I was sitting in the GERMAN February...lots of snow, cold...and sometimes it was nice to bury myself inside, next to the heater with some good DVDs...I passed so many days away like that ;) Oh...can't forget the hot cocoa or maybe a homemade latte...yummy.
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