Too Cold to Peck

As a Canadian, it is pretty well my duty to talk and write about the weather. We experience such extremes of temperature here in Ottawa, that it is easy to do so. A few mornings ago, this was me (take my word for it, it’s me) at the bus stop.

Waiting for the 114 bus. It was 15 minutes late!

It was about 100 degrees below zero and it doesn’t matter if you measure in celsius or farenheit, it was cold. But you can’t stay indoors forever. I was just going to the bank (inside a mall) and if anything could convince me to take up electronic banking, this weather would do it.

Last week we went for a walk on the Greenboro Trail and it was beautiful. Because of the Emerald Ash Borer, an insect that has decimated 25% of Ottawa’s trees, there were more woodpeckers in the trees than I had ever seen. They had obviously come to eat the insects and were making a racket pecking at the trees.

The Greenboro Trail

But a couple of days ago, the woods were silent, except for the crackle of the snow as we crunched along. There were no woodpeckers in sight.

It was too cold to peck!

Thanks for reading and have a WARM day! – Maureen

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Mad at my Sister

I have three sisters, and I love them dearly.  BUT I am quite upset with one of them.  She is normally a very nice, kind, generous, lovely person, but every once in a while she lets loose a vicious mean streak and that’s what she did today!

My sister, (I’ll call her Helen, because that’s her name) lives in Bermuda.  This is not normally a problem!  I love visiting her there and have done so many times.  Do you know what it is like to visit a warm, sunny country in the middle of a typical Canadian winter?  It makes you want to weep! 

Every time I leave that country, I stand at the top of that little ladder they provide for you to get on the plane, and I close my eyes and try to memorize the heat!!!  It is very difficult to do but I manage it for the two-hour journey back to Canada.  It’s fine in the airport but as soon as I step outside, the blast of snow, wind and c-o-l-d knocks the memory right out of me.  I can’t even remember my name let alone the heat.

I know I am digressing but I have to set the stage so you can properly understand the perfidy she unloosed this morning.  It is rare that one has to endure such things but she showed a treacherous nature that shook me to the depths of my being.

It happened on Facebook!!!  Yes, in a public forum.  She … oh I can hardly say it …  she said, “Brrr.  It is really cold here!”  Cold!  And she was born and brought up in Nova Scotia, the snow capital of the world where the day after a winter storm you can step right out of your second floor window to wend your way to school!

I noticed that she got comments from as far apart as Vancouver and Cape Breton.  Her commenters were polite.  They were nice.  They were understanding when she said, in that little girl voice of hers, (well, I couldn’t hear her of course, but I know that voice), “You have to understand it is 57 º here but it’s damp”!!!

HAH!

In basically all of Canada, it is -236 degrees and don’t even ask what the wind-chill is!  The meteorologists at Environment Canada were going to tell us but their lawyer advised them not to because of the very real possibility of multiple cardiac arrests across the nation. 

Seriously, what do you think of a sister who would complain, (yes, complain, Helen) about the cold, when her older sister is on her knees praying for spring to come?

My sister and fellow blogger (Yes, you, RvingGirl@wordpress.com) will no doubt try to stir up your sympathies, but I know you’re on my side in this.  Aren’t you???