It’s all coming back to me now…

-17C today in the Great White North. That’s 1.4 degrees F to you ‘Mericans.

Bike wouldn’t start today.

‘Ahem.’

Rolled the car into work. Funny how I’d forgotten about alot of the winter muckity muck up here. The bitter cold. Football size chunks of ice/mush that you have to hack out of the wheelwells of your car. Frozen windshield wipers. 45 minute car clearing/ice scraping sessions. Bah.

I also forgot about things like the drive to work today through the remote section of woods. We had snow 2 days ago and freezing temps since and as the sun was coming up this morning it was as if the entire evergreen forest had been rendered in crystal. Trying to put it into words here really just doesn’t get it. I’ve never been one to really espouse too much on the religion issue – I figure that’s your business, not mine – but, I’ve always considered myself pretty much a Transcendentalist and I’m pretty sure that some higher power was hanging out in those woods this morning. I know I wanted to stay for awhile.

I’d forgotten as well just how much a light a full moon casts on a clear night after snow. The other night the kids played out in the backyard at 9pm (’cause we got home late from Moncton and they hadn’t played in the snow yet) and I swear you could have read a book out back it was that light. It was weird, as I was shoveling the driveway it would get darker and lighter as patches of cloud blew in front of the moon. Later, when I took the dog out forhis usual spin around midnight, the silence and the light was simply amazing. Amazing.

One perk of moving to another country is the discovery of so much new music. I’ve started listening to the ‘Classic Rock’ station here and though it’s ‘classic’ to everyone who grew up here, I’m hearing new stuff every day. It’s awesome. Goofy old hair metal from Canadian Bands like Honeymoon Suite, April Wine and Trooper. Also, The Guess Who apparently made alot more than just 2 songs (which you’d never know if you lived in the States) and alot of them are quite good. One thing I find really amusing is how much they seem to dig their John Cougar Mellancamp up here. He’s on all the time.

In addition, there’s bands like the Hip, Blue Rodeo, 54-40, and Sam Roberts – all of which I’d heard, but now get to hear more obscure tracks from and/or hear more often. I’m sure locals are more in line with ‘I’m so sick of all that old shit’ – but hey – it’s all new to me…and it’s all GOOD.

 As if that weren’t enough, they actually play Rush on the radio here – relatively often – and not the same 2 songs they used to play in the States all the time. Amen. I’ve found Nirvana (not the band, but the state of being).

Working in my unheated (except for a woodstove)garage the other night, I stumbled across a weekly Maritime Blues show (BluesZone, I think) that is really awesome, hipping me to the likes of Sass Jordan, Matt Minglewood, and a bunch of other Blues cats even better than those two that I can’t remember the names of now. Just really good stuff. Oh and here’s a tip: Jeff Healey is BADASS. He had that one hit in the States years back with ‘Angel Eyes’ but his other stuff is soooo much better. I dunno if he’s Canadaian or what, but he gets much more props up here, and for good reason.

Finally, I learned what is probably my most valuable Canadian Winter Survival Lesson to date:

Ocassional bouts of air guitar will go a long way towards keeping you warm in a cold garage.

I may have just saved your life. You can thank me later. With beer.

5 replies on “It’s all coming back to me now…”

  1. Woah!!! That is WAY too cold for me… … glad you can handle it. I would love to see some pictures of what you describe though. It sounds beautiful. Hugs to Lyn and the girls.

  2. You’re doubly blessed!
    First that you can see all that and second that you can put it into words so well!

    Oh, and third that you are back where you love it!

  3. Hello. I am so glad that you are able to get Rush Limbaugh up there, but I didn’t know he could sing too. The man is truly amazing. A ridiculously warm 35 degrees F here (+3.976 Canadian- rounded off Eh?). Everthing is fine and as always centers mainly on Winston. “He seem a little lithargic today, his poop looks off color, maybe he need a heart transplant” He has become a permant budget item. When we don’t worry about Winston, we worry about the fish in our aquarium. “Tank looking a little cloudy, one of our three Angel fish is not eating…. is she sick or maybe pregnant, should we get some more guppies so they will have babies for fresh food for the rest of the tank?” This is what old people do. We also watch too much TV, but I am proud to say that we do not watch any of the reality shows. We stick to the more down to earth and realistic programing like Wheel of Fortune (Vana is hot) or Deal or No Deal. Any shows that come on after nine oclock are pretty much out of the picture for us. Anyway, it sounds like thing are going well up there and that is great news for us. We are coming for a visit as soon as the temperature gets up to at least 12.368 degrees and we can feel comfortable that our bikes will start each morning. Keep in touch.

    love
    Duddly.

  4. wrote a long comment and submitted it but don’t see it! will have to try again this weekend. Can you time out here?

  5. Hi Kent but with the medecine I left you that bottle of DeKuyper would have scared all theses germs that you caught hi…The darn plow just block my driveway tonight and it is still snowing hard I think we will get 3 feet of snow before it stop We are expecting high wind with that with that light snow the visibility will be nil . Well I am happy something to do tomorow blow that snow on the neighbour hi… I will cover her car completely hi… It will give her exercise plus the yelleing after me hi…The pictures of the girls are just sweet north took a good picture also …
    Here the computor crash but I finaly reinstall and everything is working normaly … I am finaly to get over it hi… In Sacramento it is worse than here have you seen the cars on the icy roads I just hate rain in winter specialy on my antennas … Even if the propag is very bad due to sun flares I still succeed to make good DX contacts around the globe today it was with France with many good old friends … Did you get these thermostats on sale at Can-tire I went to get some for the cottage but they were out of them . I hope your power is back Lyne told me today you were out I should have brought you that 10 Kw generator … It is good that your performance in hockey is rusty It would have look bad for our guys up here that were born with a stick in their hands … well someone is calling on the radio give a big hug to the girls for me and a good hand shake for you Paul

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