In Like a Lamb

Southern Ontario had one of those terrible snow storms yesterday. I’m not sure how much snow fell, I think 8 to 10 inches, but what made it terrible is that it was composed of a very, very, very wet snow. I saw people walking through it on the news and it was just like walking in slush. I just can’t imagine how heavy that crap would be to shovel. I lived there once upon a time and lived through more than a few of those storms, but my mind must have blanked out most of that horrible memory.

The snow won’t last, and I suppose that most of it has drained down the sewers already, unless there was a radical drop in the temperature. They do get some interesting storms, but they don’t seem to last very long anymore. That is a good thing in case you don’t know.

I almost feel guilty that our weather has been so wonderful lately. I don’t think it has been this nice since 1988 during the Winter Olympics. The organizers had to keep trucking in snow to several of the venues from the mountains because it was melting so fast. I can remember thinking that some of the millions of people that watched the Olympics would have planned to come to Calgary for a vacation in February because the weather is so nice. Boy, would they have  been in for a surprise! February is typically the coldest month for us and quite often the temperature hovers between -20° and -40° C. But it’s a dry cold!

I know that the politicians are denying that there is global warning while the scientists are telling them that it isn’t an opinion, the statistics just don’t lie. Anyone that has lived on the planet for any length of time knows that something is amiss with the weather. I can’t say for certain that our weather has changed due to global warming or if the planet is going through one of its “cycles”. My gut feeling is that we are suffering from global warming.

 

It could be caused by our millions and millions of cows farting, or for that matter farting from the billions of people. Where did this idea about farting come from anyways? I think it makes more sense that we humans have caused the warming from a variety of activities. We heat our houses and businesses; we drive our cars that get so hot that you can cook a complete Thanksgiving dinner on the engine. We must have paved a significant amount of the earth’s surface, and anyone that has walked barefoot on pavement at mid day during the summer, knows just how hot pavement can get. I haven’t even mentioned all of the hot air from our politician’s world wide.

 

I go by what I remember from when I was younger. Winter would come and it would stay until April in Ontario. In Alberta the winter would come in cold usually around Halloween and stay until mid April with one or two short lived Chinooks during the season. My buddy remembers going out to play during the winter and as he and his brothers were leaving, his mom would call out to them not to walk on other peoples roof tops. That is how high the snow drifts were back in the day. Kids could dig tunnels in the snow and make “castles”. Now, they have to collect snow from the neighbour’s lawns to make a decent snowman. It is hardly worth owning a toboggan anymore. I have a friend that would prop the screen door open during the night so that they wouldn’t get trapped inside by the heavy snowfall.

 Tomorrow and the next day are supposed to be between 10° and 12°C which is just fine by me. March is coming in like a lamb, and more than likely will go out like a lion. I don’t care, January and February are the coldest months and once March comes, I can almost smell springtime. If the neighbour doesn’t clean up the four months of dog crap in his back yard, I’ll definitely be able to smell springtime.