Why Canadians yearn for retirement

Our Weekend

My darling husband woke me up Saturday morning to show me the weather on his iPad.  It said some ridiculous temperature but the real news was that with the wind chill it felt like 50 below zero.  Urrgh!!  I rolled over to go back to sleep, glad that I had no reason to go anywhere.

Moe of course, felt he was somehow being ripped off.  If this had been a week day the school buses would have been cancelled.  The students would have had a snow day because of the extreme cold; I didn't bother reminding him that a snow day still means that he would have to show up for work.  Or that the school's heating system most likely would not be able to keep up with the demand and that the school would be cold at best, frosty at worst. And although, we have the car in the garage it would start and that the ride to work would be okay, when he needed to come home the car would be freezing, the tires "square" and he would be cold all the way home. He knew all that. It's just if you need to tolerate that kind of temperature then you should at least get something out of it.  It was a very good day to stay home.

When we were kids, temperature didn't stop the buses.  I remember being outside hearing a branch crack and then fall from the tree because of the cold, our nostrils sticking together if you dared to take a deep breath when you removed your scarf from around your face. When the bus arrived and that door swung open you clumped up the stairs as fast as your heavy winter boots would allow, anticipating the welcome heat.  However, once on the bus you just continued to be cold.  Every time the door opened to allow other frozen children to clomp on, whatever warm air that the heater had created left to welcome the newcomers as they brought more cold in with them.  It was not a good deal. Even in high school, when we drove for long periods without opening the door, that tin can never warmed up at those temperatures.  I am not telling about this to say that we were tougher than kids are now because that isn't a fair comparison, but rather to say that the deciding to cancel buses for extreme cold is a worthwhile advancement in thinking. 

Coming back to this weekend, our sons told us that their apartment heating systems were struggling to keep up to the cold and although dressed as warmly as possible it was still chilly inside.  We are lucky, we have two sources of heat in the house--electric and a gas fireplace downstairs.  However, when it is that cold outside your body still senses it. Even dressed warmly inside with cozy slippers and extra layers, you might not be shivering but your joints and bones and lungs know you don't like it. 

When Moe attempted to start our truck, it refused even though it had been plugged-in over night.  Our son was having the same trouble in North Bay as he tried to get to work.  His car refused to start even after a boost.  No matter how much you love your job, on a morning like that you yearn for retirement and specifically a retirement that includes winter somewhere warm.  No matter how much you loved snow and winter sports when you were younger, your older body yearns to be a Canadian "snowbird".  

Those of us who are left behind in the cold of Ontario this weekend were most likely thinking of all the lucky ones who may have chosen this week to leave for a warm vacation. Envy abounding!  However, thinking of the ones who by some rather bad luck were returning this weekend from an all inclusive holiday into the extreme cold helps to balance out the envy. Imagine the disappointment of stepping off a plane into 40 below weather when just a few hours earlier you were perspiring in bright tropical sunlight.   

Our daughter in Northern British Columbia tells us that she can go to the mountain to ski but that her yard right now is snow free.  I guess that's fair since we were feeling sorry for her in early October when they had their first snowfall.  Here in Northern Ontario, our world is deep with snow.  It has covered everything in the yard making all shapes disappear. There is no mound or drift to indicate where we left our canoe near the water.  Unless you know that it is out there the canoe is undetectable.  If the temperature alone is not a reason to migrate south then being weary of looking at white, shoveling white, of brushing it off the car, of trudging through it is enough to make you want to escape the joys of winter.  

We did brave the cold Saturday afternoon in order to have a Valentine's Dinner at a restaurant. After all, winter is long and you can't let it prevent you from having a good time. Like many Canadians we appreciate the beauty of winter and prefer a white Christmas card beautiful December. And on a sunny, milder day we even enjoy going outside for activities on snow or ice.  And thankfully, the thermometer has now risen to a more comfortable temperature.  

But when Darling Husband retires we will happily escape for at least the long dreary part of winter. Maybe we should consider early retirement for him!