Canadian Winter

Well we sure love snow up here in Canada. From the time that it starts to snow, there is very little I don't love about it. I love the way it makes the air smell, I love the way it looks as it falls like crystal to form tiny little mountains all around us. Snow creates its own little playgrounds for kids of all ages and sizes to enjoy. Snow...it defines us as Canadians, our collective identity. Yet, this winter, I have found myself feeling fed up with it. The constant dump of the white, wet soggy albatross. Shovelling my car off three to four times a day, is not cute or charming, it is becoming a chore. Driving, fearful of crashing, or worse yet, getting stuck. Day after day, the fear, the frustration, building ever so gradually until it had reached fed up proportions. Then, walking out of an appointment, I am stopped by the sight of 5-6 people pushing a little volkswagon bug out of the spot where it had been trapped by the 50cm of snow that had fallen in 5 days. When they were successful, we all cheered. The pushers, the driver, and those of us captivated by the sight of strangers, who came together to help a fellow motorist, and then it hits me. Adversity inspires community...the sense that we are connected to one another by our need for help. Secondly, the answer to the age old question, "Why are Canadians so nice?" Because we have to be, our survival depends on it.