I used to get deeply depressed when it rained
in the middle of February. Rain wrecks everything. Ski trails
turn to mush, snow gets too heavy and yucky for snowshoeing,
and even the ice skating path I've shovelled so often the past
few weeks becomes unusable.
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MATHER |
When morning snow turns to afternoon rain, it
feels like the grey of the day is never going to go away.
However, I don't get as depressed as I used
to at this turn of events.
After all, being gloomy on a gloomy day
doesn't change the facts of the weather. It's probably my
advancing age that brings a calmer, more patient attitude
toward these murky times. Experience has shown that indeed the
rain will end eventually, and with a little luck, it will be
followed with an inch or two of snow.
This winter has been particularly full of
those learning experiences. We seem to be in a pattern of deep
freezes interspersed with temperatures well above freezing, and
the dreaded rain showers. Somehow, we have survived them
all.
Another thing I have learned in my advancing
old age is the necessity to get outside to do some physical
activity every day. And there lies the biggest problem with
rain in winter. It makes it hard to get out to do much of
anything.
The only thing I have not yet learned to
tolerate is announcers on the radio talking about the
wonderfully warm weather we are having this winter. Warm, yes.
Wonderful no.
In winter, my first choice is to be on the
ski trails. To have a good track; to fly along the flats and
soar down the hills; and yes, even to climb the next hill, this
is the pure joy of winter.
I finally found the silver lining of the
recurring rain clouds that have dampened this winter when I
stepped off the path a couple of days ago. The repeated
freeze-thaw cycle has finally hardened the crust on the snow -
we can walk everywhere now.
Well, almost everywhere. There are still some
areas where my big winter boots break through the crust. Now is
the perfect time for using those new, smaller snowshoes.
Snowshoeing is my second most favourite winter activity.
Snowshoes take me places I can't get to at
any other time of year, or by any other means of transport.
With the hard, crusty snow we have now, it takes no more effort
than walking to get deep into the forest, to cross the little
openings, to get into the deepest of the spruce bogs and
tamarack swamps. These hold a special beauty in winter, a quiet
and peace that can seep into my soul.
So instead of getting depressed when the next
rain shower melts the top layer of snow yet again, I'll ponder
the possibilities of exploring new places once the deep freeze
returns.
Viki Mather lives by a lake near Sudbury.
