Long, long winters...

can help develop a sense of humour! You might as well laugh, because there is NOTHING you can do to change the weather.  Our winters on the east coast can last a good FIVE months.  If you don't e*m*b*r*a*c*e  the cold, s*h*o*v*e*l the snow, s*l*i*d*e across the ice, and try to enjoy these frosty elements, you will go stir CRAZY from cabin fever, be DEPRESSED from all the snow, ice, blizzards, and freezing rain, get SICK of being cold, and feel so FED UP with having to bundle up in so much clothing that when you walk, you waddle!  If you can't beat it, join it, right?  Mind you, you have to deal with vagaries in the weather, such as a positively balmy +10C temperature on December 23rd, and a wicked -24C on December 27th.

Canadians have developed a sense of humour, visually as well, about our TRUE NORTH, STRONG, FREE, and COLD!

Plus, we can joke about it.  Take, for example, the following incident.  I was walking Vimy, when I ran into a neighbour, who noticed that Vimy had lost two of his Muttluks (booties he wears to protect his paws from ice and salt).   My neighbour's quick quip made me laugh out loud, "Oh, I see Vimy is using his two wheel drive today!"

When paying for my gas fill-up with my Visa card, I didn't have time to tell the cashier at Irving, before he picked up the card, that I had left it in my wallet in the car ALL day.  Upon picking it up, he immediately squealed, dropped it and exclaimed, "FROSTBITE!"  Again, I had another great chuckle.

Laugh and learn to cope when you are 12 hours without electricity, through the night of Christmas Eve, and early morning.  It is -10 degrees Celsius outside, but a MERE 9 degrees inside. Your house is so cold that you see your breath: when you touch the walls, and your door handles, you get a shock, an ice COLD shock. Try making a cold breakfast with your gloves on?

Thank your lucky stars that someone can drive to Tim's to get a hot coffee.

Thank your lucky stars and God above, that five NB Power workers, and five different types of trucks, flatbeds, boom trucks and whatever, are two doors down, trying to bring warmth back into your home.

Thank your lucky starts, God above, AND hug an NB Power employee in a bright, orange vest, when he comes to your door, wanting to know why YOU were outside in your housecoat and bright Santa Claus hat, waving at him frantically, when the power GLOWED back on!

 BRIGHT ORANGE VESTS HERE ARE not A SIGN OF PROTEST!

RATHER, THEY ARE A SIGN OF PROTECTION, AND SAFETY... especially throughout our long, cold winters.

As Gilles Vigneault so aptly expressed in his song, "Mon pays ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver!' 

🎶🎶🎶