I hate winter
Here comes winter. I hate winter. I hate skating, I hate skiing, I hate snow, I hate ice, I hate everything about the season and stare at the calendar waiting for the first day of spring. It really annoys me when people refer to the beauty of the winter season and how much they love everything about it, including, dare I say, CHRISTMAS.
Well, my annoying winter-loving friend, explain how anything can look beautiful when it’s dead and covered in ice and snow? Where’s the beauty in mucky, dirty slush, treacherous roads and driveways, and bare frozen trees and bushes? To say nothing of winter fashions that include large bulky coats, big goofy boots, puffy gloves and a selection of equally hideous hats that ensure we all look completely idiotic and unappealing. I don’t see it myself but would appreciate it if someone could explain the beautiful winter thing to me. Until then, I wait in my house for the return of my lawn, cursing the ice and snow and anyone that says they love this crap. Oh, and did I mention the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics? No? Gee…go figure.
I used to feel exactly as you do. I hated seeing the leaves change color because I knew that was the precursor to the cold, wet, soggy, grey days of winter. I could feel the SAD engulf me. I used all the normal responses to friends and family who lived in true winter land – Saskatchewan and Ontario – when they bugged me about the gloominess of the coast in the winter. “At least we don’t have to shovel the rain”, and “the odd sunny day makes it all worthwhile”, followed by “our cars always start without having to plug them in”, and “no square tires!”. All the time, I was counting the weeks until spring.
Then all that changed. On my husband’s bucket list was: own a place in a ski resort. I gave in, figuring it would be a good investment and we’d rent it out most of the winter so I could put up with the odd week-end in the snow. He loves to ski and I can tolerate it, and I’m great at apres-ski, so why not give it a shot.
We bought the condo late in the fall and decided we’d spend a couple weeks in it, getting it ready to rent out for the ski season. While doing that, the snow started to fall and our dog, Rosie, loved it! She would drag us outdoors to play for hours in the snow, losing her favorite ball, then finding it. We started to meet a few other people with dogs and time flew by. As the snow got deeper and deeper, we discovered that the snow here was much different than the snow on the coast. You can actually drive in it and not slide all over the place. You can play in it without getting wet. Not only that, the sun actually shines in the winter – not just once in a while, but almost every day. In the sunshine, the snow looks like a field of diamonds. You gotta see beauty in that.
We also noticed that the sky at night is brilliant with stars. I had no idea there were so many of them — you rarely see them in the overcast skies on the coast. We discovered that we could sit in our hot tub, enjoying our morning coffee while watching the sun rise over the mountain. The trees in the early morning sun glowed vibrant reds and golds and almost looked like they were on fire. On the really cold days, the hoarfrost made the landscape look like a Christmas card. You have to admit there’s beauty in that. Before we knew it, the ski season was nearly over and we had spent most of the winter playing in the snow and were loving it. With only a couple weeks of ski season left, we decided to stay and see it through.
We left Sun Peaks in April to go back to Port Moody. We arrived to find the back deck green and slimey. It matched the green, slimey driveway that doesn’t get any sun anymore because our neighbors refuse to trim their trees. The north side of the house was green, as was the fence. The lawn in the back yard was dead and totally saturated. Oh, and the traffic. We hadn`t dealt with traffic in 6 months. I’m sure it was 50% worse than when we left in the fall. Where did all those extra people come from? It took about 10 minutes to decide we were heading back up the mountain as soon as possible.
Now, as for the winter fashions, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A toque is a must and it wrecks the `do, but not anymore than the rain and wind. Bulky sweaters are good at hiding an extra kilo or two. Uggs are expensive, but oh, so cool. It is all about attitude!
I’m with you on the Olympics. I’m glad we won’t be anywhere close to the coast during that event. We’ll be on the sunny, uncrowded slopes of Sun Peaks, playing in the sunshine and the snow.
BTW, we have a lovely rental condo if you’d like to escape the rat race for a bit and see if it is really winter you dislike, or if it is just the coast in winter. I’ll give you a really great price — but careful — you may not want to leave.