Winter 2014

The small talk these days is about how long and difficult this winter is. This is my 46th, and to me, there does seem to be an overall warming trend in my climate. Winters not as 'wintery' as when I was a kid. This winter's been the exception to that, with the arctic vortex happening this year. So it's been consistently in the minus 20s and not a few days go by without a windchill in the air. There are brief, swift 'warmer' periods of -5s that bring with it a generous load of snow. Following the snow, it's right back to the chill. Oh well, it's better than freezing rain. So, any 'Canadien' will tell you though, that you need to get outside to slay the winter blahs. You go outside and play.

Mid-March and, the weather was a tiny bit nicer, minus teens at night and a pleasant -5 or so during the day. Cold enough so that you don't sweat too much on hikes, and warm enough so that when you do stop and enjoy the scenery, you don't freeze. This good winter weather sent me running to the forest.

My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing. ― Aldous Huxley

I came across that quote on Neil Peart's latest blog post via this LINK. This man continues to live the way I want to. He took off for a month to live out in his house up in the Laurentians. He normally lives in Southern California, but he's originally from Canada, grew up in Toronto, but bought himself a place in the Laurentians in the 80s. So, yes, he went up North during the winter. Winter is actually very nice, when you're not in the city. His wife and daughter visited him for a week during his stay. To have time to be with your books, thoughts, ideas, documentaries, exercise, nature, fresh air... Then, the occasional and welcome diversion of friends and family. An introvert's utopia.

I don't have the luxury of a month, but I did manage to steal a couple of days and ran for the hills. Here is a LINK to the pictures I took along with some words.