Even in Canada where winter is so much a part of our lives, it seems like we seldom have anything good to say about our cold climate. Everyone was complaining of record-breaking cold this week, the harshest in recent memory. Even the squirrel in the yard seemed to be jumping farther and faster than usual in an attempt to spend as little time as possible out on the snow.
Surprisingly, there are actually some benefits to living in a cold climate. Our air is fresh, and long cold spells prevent too many insects from surviving through to the next summer, benefits we usually don’t consider until our kitchens are bombarded with ants in the middle of a sticky summer heat wave. Snow’s insulating properties also keep small rodents dreaming beneath the drifts at this time of year, instead of trying to find shelter in our homes.
A cold climate also has a positive impact on our intelligence, especially our ability to delay gratification. The mental functions required to store food, dress warmly and create adequate shelter are crucial to survival in harsh environments.
It’s no wonder the Vikings were the first Europeans to make a settlement on this side of the Atlantic. Habitually doing hard things in a harsh environment gave these cold climate dwellers an edge over other cultures. Their ability to shrug off the cold and wholeheartedly embrace winter survives to this day. Though polar dipping may not be to everyone’s liking, at the very least, cold winters incite us to practice hope and patience as we wait for the warmer days ahead.
Text and photographs copyright Amy-Lynn Bell 2013
He does look like he’s in a hurry to get back into a nice warm bed!
Katie, yes he certainly does!
So far, I have actually enjoyed the winter (but please don’t tell Sybil). The reason is because of the light. Generally speaking, it’s much, much brighter here than the UK. Perishing as it might be, with wind chills deepening the cold, if the sun is out I can cope with it. Honeymoon period still in process?
Ok, Lynne, I won’t tell Sybil. But if she comments on your comment I can’t be held responsible 😉
I have to agree that the brightness makes the cold easier to bear and thankfully, the coldest days always seem to also be the brightest here. The wind chills are pretty nasty though so you must still be in that honeymoon period. I’m finding it more and more difficult to feel the love as we head into a second week of this cold!
I’d take raining and grey over frigid and sunny any day …
Maybe I should buy your house in England !
Or just wait until Spring. We’re sure to have lots of grey skies and rain by then.
I have lived in cold climates and don’t ever want to do that again. I’ll take the desert heat for a few months in summer to have a balmy winter with barely a week of below-freezing temperatures.
Ruth, balmy winters seem more appealing to me as I get older. Not sure if I could handle the extreme heat in the summer though. We do have some pretty terrific summer days here, but we do pay through the nose for them in January!
Ahhh, such a lovely post, Ms. Amy Lynn. To elucidate the advantages of living in a cold climate so marvelously. You are right about all of it, especially our increased intelligence. (You had better watch for those southerners. When they find your post, you’re in so much trouble!) Early this morning got up and looked out the window in awe at the moon shadows on the snow. Yes, we are lucky indeed.
Kathy, yes I did wonder about offending those living closer to the equator. But I think they already know they’re the overall winners. Most northerners would be quite content to sacrifice higher intelligence for warmer winters 😉 We’d miss the moon shadows on snow more than the IQ points.
Oh wouldn’t we… Beautiful moon shadows…
Love the jumping squirrel! Love the pussywillows, too, but don’t want to see them opening too soon, because I also love not worrying about ticks and such outdoors during winter. Yes, there are good things about cold.
Pamela, the quick agility of the jumping squirrel was quite appealing. It moved in such a blur that the blurred photo seemed quite an appropriate representation of its antics.
Those ticks are a concern here too, though not in the Cow Bay woods (that I know of) yet. I think we can safely say the pussy willows won’t be opening for at least a couple of months… which is actually a bit depressing when you think of it 😦
Totally agree with your insights on the cold of winter, though I am one who never seems to be able to get warm. But, I am learning patience, and looking forward to the awakening of spring, I like living in a place where we can enjoy the changing of the seasons. Winter makes me appreciate the other three.
Bonnie, I find the winter mornings especially chilling. The changing seasons are indeed lovely here, but when you wrote
“Winter makes me appreciate the other three.”
I wondered if this was akin to saying you like pain because it feels so good when it stops. 🙂
Most people in the UK, apart from the Scots I expect, would probably find it hard to come up with many benefits of living in a cold climate. Being on a grey damp rock in the middle of the ocean makes most of us crave for sunnier climes. But I think you are right about the cultural benefits that accrue from “habitually doing things hard”. It probably is no surprise that the current economic meltdown being experienced in Europe has hit the Mediterranean countries hardest. Does this have something to do with a lovely climate rather getting in the way of working hard??? Probably!
Corinne, I think climate has a huge effect on cultures, even now when we can control so much of it indoors at least. It definitely affects our motivation to work. In hot climates where food is available year round and you don’t have to worry about freezing to death, there’s less of a sense of urgency.
I hotlinked ‘doing hard things’ in my post above to another by twin brothers, Alex and Brett at The Rebelution blog. They tell the story about how the Vikings edged out their competition by rowing their own ships (in contrast to the Romans who used slaves), consequently arriving at their destination fit and ready to wage battle. These brothers try to motivate teenagers to ‘do hard things’ as a way of overcoming the low expectations that plague the younger generation these days. I think young and old of all cultures can benefit from adopting this attitude in daily life, for the good of the one and the many.
Great story. Will check out the Rebelution blog. Without sounding too much like an old **** I think a good dose of “doing things hard” or “doing hard things” would be hugely beneficial. Maybe we’ve all gone too soft. Britain virtually ground to a halt over the last week because we had a few inches of snow. Hundreds of schools were closed for a start. You Canadians would all have a good laugh at us!!
I agree Corinne. Even here in Canada, I don’t recall as many school closures due to snow when I was a child. People used to walk to school in weather that’s no longer deemed feasible for vehicles to drive in.
Suggestion: put all this into poetry. Seriously. I think you’d create a wonderful winter song with all this material.
Eva, there is already a very poetic song by a Canadian, Gilles Vigneault, ‘Mon Pays’ that describes how winter is such a part of who we are as a country. Here are some lines from it – I’ve attempted a translation from the French:
Mon pays ce n’est pas un pays, c’est l’hiver
(My country is not a country, it’s winter)
Mon jardin ce n’est pas un jardin, c’est la plaine
(My garden isn’t a garden, it’s the prairie)
Mon chemin ce n’est pas un chemin, c’est la neige
(My road isn’t a road, it’s the snow)
Mon pays ce n’est pas un pays, c’est l’hiver
(My country isn’t a country, it’s winter)
Dans la blanche cérémonie où la neige au vent se marie
(In the white ceremony whereby the snow marries itself to the wind)
Dans ce pays de poudrerie mon père a fait bâtir maison
(In this country of powder, my father has built a house)
Et je m’en vais être fidèle à sa manière à son modèle
(And I will be faithful to his methods and his ways)
La chambre d’amis sera telle
(The guest room will be such that)
Qu’on viendra des autres saisons pour se bâtir à côté d’elle
(Others will come from the other seasons to build next to her).
It’s a beautiful song that goes on to describe how Canada is a country of winter wonder and friendship for all the world to enjoy.
I enjoyed the bright clean looking snow in your lovely pictures. It gave me a break from the grayness we are having here on Vancouver Island this past week.
Blessings ~ Wendy
Wendy, it is beautifully clean and bright. Sparkling snow is one of the most magical of sights. When I lived in BC years ago I loved being able to get away with wearing sandals year-round, but found the constant rain and grey skies wearing at times. One of my sons lives in Vancouver now. The weather’s a big contrast for him, but I think he’s enjoying being able to wear just a sweater to keep warm instead of all the layers we have to heap on these days.
I agree that there are advantages to both the east and west coast of Canada! We live in such a beautiful country. 🙂
Beautiful reminder of the value in the present moment. Love the leaping squirrel – excellent catch.
Thanks Dawn 🙂 The only way this squirrel will be caught is in a photo, and a blurred one at that!
I love the long shadows your trees make on the snow in the winter. The squirrel is adorable – poor thing! It’s true, winter does have its benefits, I say as outside there is freezing rain is coating a meager snowfall with a layer of ice. Now if I had a little more Viking blood in me I might have been out there doing something difficult, like skating to the mailbox. But I think the mail will have to wait to be picked up until tomorrow!
Barbara, walking on ice is nasty business that should be avoided whenever possible. When my kids were young, we so often had those meager snowfalls with the layer of ice on top. I’d wonder how safe it was for them to play outside. My grandson recently chipped a tooth when he tripped on icy snow in the schoolyard. It can be quite treacherous, even for children who seem to be able to bounce back from almost anything.
Amy-Lynn and Kathy – I find it so hard to imagine living – and surviving, never mind thriving – in a place where there is snow and ice and freezing rain for so many months every year. When I read your posts, I shiver and long for a hot cocoa around a cosy fireplace…
Although I realise the dangers of spending time outside in the harsh African sun – particularly in summer, our delicate western skin still burns quite easily, despite several generations of living here – and although I am aware of the constant risk of getting skin cancer from too much sun-exposure, I do so love our clear blue skies and the warmth in the air and the profusion of flourishing plant life that we are blessed with.
Stay warm and toasty, dear northern friends!
Reggie, I know it must seem so ridiculous to those who live in warmer climates, why on earth we would ever consider building lives here. Every once in a while we catch a brainwave and ask ourselves why we’ve lived here all our lives when we could have lived somewhere warmer. Many Canadians move to Florida or Arizona in the USA when they retire. The older we get, the more we seem to feel the cold in our bones.
I always considered that a land where you could have your meals on the terrace would be the perfect place. But considering the other wildlife that also want to share that moment, we need to be indoors mostly and in a safer environment. Living in Europe you could have the choice and I have had that choice and going back to my roots suits me better. Hot in summer, freezing in winter works for me as I don’t live in a tent but good luck to all that have to.