Re: "How do you feel about Alberta winters?" Poll, StAlbertToday.ca, Feb. 6.
It was a few degrees below 0 C and lightly snowing when I set out for my morning walk on a recent day; much warmer than the -20 C it had been for the previous few days. I was looking forward to an easy walk unencumbered by fleece-lined jeans and a heavy parka.
About 20 minutes into the walk, I saw a lady with a dog approaching. As she neared, I offered a "good morning," as I often do to fellow walkers and added for good measure, "Sure nicer it's not so cold," to which she replied cheerily, "Yes, and I'm loving it," and we carried on in our opposite directions.
"I'm loving it." she said, and I thought, "How strange." It will be three months hence, in May, before the snow is gone and the grass has greened up and the trees have leafed out and the flowering trees and shrubs are in full display. The May long weekend is like the start of the Indy 500 for avid local gardeners, described once as commando gardeners because of the tight time frame within which many seeds or bedding plants must be in place if there is to be any hope of them maturing before first frost in the fall.
Central Alberta is a wonderful place to live. There are beauties to behold in any of the three quickly passing seasons of spring, summer, and fall; in spring, the sweet aroma of the flowering May Day trees and lilacs is everywhere; in summer, the peonies bloom along with the vast yellow canola fields; and in fall are the colours and bountiful harvests at the local farmers' markets.
There are beauties, too, in the slowly passing season of winter; the season that seems to cling to life in a way the others cannot. Think of sun dogs in a bright, frosty morning sky or the laughter of rosy-cheeked children swooping down a hill on a plastic slider or stray piece of cardboard. Or think of the relief at the end of a prolonged cold snap when, even at a few degrees below 0 C, we cheerfully greet strangers with, "I'm loving it."
This part of the world is a great place to live, but we all must be a little bit nuts to love it so!
John Ball, St. Albert
