Weather, weather, weather!!!

Weather, weather, weather!!!

A Jamaican friend of mine once commented on how funny it was to hear Canadians asking what the weather would be like in Jamaica. Except in hurricane season, the response would always be the same, “Today should be about the same as yesterday. Tomorrow should be about the same as today.”

Then, he moved to Canada and soon found himself waking up in the morning and asking, “What’s the weather going to be like today?” He chuckled at his transformation. His friends back in Jamaica were beginning to wonder what Canadians put in their water. 🙂

At this time of year, our blog entries for southern climates begin to be visited more and more often especially those for Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Cuba. I looked back at some of those recently and the only weather related comment that I think that I found was “It was hot!”. Since all of our trips to that part of the world have occurred during the winter months, my statement “It was hot!” was a comparative statement where the comparison was not with the temperature of the day before but rather a comparison to the temperature back in Canada where at, at this time of the year, it can be drastically colder.

At Ottawa’s New Year’s Day Polar Bear Dip event, “The Sears Great Canadian Chill”, everyone was commenting on how nice the weather was for such an event (0C with little or no wind). Of course, anyone looking at a person standing on snow dressed in just a towel and a bikini getting ready to take a run into an ice-clogged bit of the Ottawa River, and hearing them say over their cell phone, “The weather’s just great, not too cold and no wind”, might think that the person had gone mad or, at the very least, lost touch with reality for a moment of two. In the context of how a Canadian thinks, such a statement would likely make sense, being as for a Canadian, discussion about weather is always comparative in nature.

Today, two day’s after the New Year’s Day ‘dip’, the temperature outside is -20C with a wind blowing at about 25kph making it feel like about -30C. Now that might seem COLD but at least the sky is blue and the sun is shining!

Don’t worry, I’m not going out for a dip in the river!

But before heading over to the hospital to visit my father, I did drop by his residence at Stonehaven Manor to pick up a few things and found that Kathryn had the van packed with residents all bundled up and ready to head out on one of their “Mystery Tours”. When I told my father that the gang were heading out on another  “Mystery Tour” and it was -20C, his comment was simple, “It’s too cold!” 🙂

My point made! When Canadians in hospitals start worrying about the weather, it’s usually a sign that they are feeling better :-). If it’s too cold today; wait a day! Something different to look forward to. With Canadian weather, two days are rarely the same!  On my next visit to my father, I expect him to ask me where the mystery tour went and I won’t know. Then I will be in trouble!!!