Now I know that asking the weather to do something is totally useless. As useless as my dog howling at the moon! As useless as a rain dance! (Although I could get a strenuous argument on this one. )
I would really like winter to approach a little meeker or a little kinder.
It seems that winter has to hit me with a big bang. Winter has to crash upon me and I don't have time to become accustomed to the harsh temperatures. Later in the winter minus 18 for a daytime high will not be noticed. All of a sudden in the last three days our daytime highs have been minus 18 C(minus 5 F), cloudy and a little wind. When you first go out in these conditions it hits you and makes your body hurt. I would prefer to have the days become gradually cooler and then I would automatically adjust to the temperature and be comfortable.
So to fight the harsh conditions head on I went out yesterday. I walked to the mall (1.625 Km or 1 mile) I found conditions to be quite reasonable. I was comfortable and enjoyed the walk. On the way I saw a high flying flock of geese as well as a very large coyote right on the trail less than 50 m (160 ft) from me. I respect coyotes and won't tempt them . This one hastily went into the bush and disappeared.
My walk took me to the local mall where I was volunteering to man the Nature Center's book store. My time at the mall was great fun. Four hours later I had the pleasure of walking home in the same conditions. There was camera in my pocket with the message "batteries too low." I guess the camera batteries didn't like the cold either.
Now when I really stop and think about winter coming with a bang the worst part is sitting in the house and watching it!
