The end of March is upon us…

Wow! Two weeks since I put finger to keyboard here! Time flies, even if one isn’t having fun.

Let’s see, what has happened. Well, for starters, we had an eight-inch snowfall weekend before last. I couldn’t push it, I’m forbidden medically to shovel it, so out came the snow blower on Sunday morning. Since then, the weather has warmed and the snow is virtually all gone. Even I am beginning to believe that spring is in the air. The roads are covered with grit, rather than snow. The grit is left over from being sprayed on ice to keep everyone from sliding through intersections as they drive.

I started taking yoga lessons from my friend Erin. Very simple stretches and breathing exercises. Haven’t managed to integrate them into my daily routine, but that will come.

In anticipation of a Provincial election, I have agreed to become the Financial Agent for the NDP (centre-left party here in Canada). Sounds pretty grandiose, but we are a small party in central Alberta, mostly geared to stated some obvious alternatives to a strongly right wing government that pretends to be ordained by God to rule. Those of you in other countries who value your democratic rights will be horrified to learn that Alberta, where I live, has had the same party in government for almost 50 years. Very right wing, quite controlled by corporate power – particularly oil companies, who virtually own the government. We don’t see that changing anytime soon, but folks like us keep reminding people that Conservative candidates serve only corporate interests, whereas our candidates – who are generally passionate social democrats – would be more likely to serve the needs of the constituents. We have few “career politician” and more folks passionate about the needs of small towns and rural Alberta. We vote on principles, not necessarily to win.

It’s fascinating to talk t lifelong Conservatives who are opposed to the NDP (New Democratic Party), but who have no idea of the policies they think are so dangerous. When you tell them, they looked stunned, as though they’ve never heard that before. They tell me that our candidate is a really good candidate. I ask them, “Then why don’t you vote for him?” Answer: “He runs for the wrong party.” In other words, ‘we vote to win, not because we believe anything about how the place should be run.

I’ve been phoning people and inviting them to our campaign kickoff on Wednesday evening. Amazing how many folks want the ND’s and the Liberals to work together to defeat the Conservative government federally. I tend to support this initiative, but I suspect that ego will interfere, and the Federal Conservatives may win again. If that happens, democracy in Canada will be eroded even further. It seems quite clear to me that our PM, Harper, is actually fascist in his beliefs, more like Mussolini than anyone else.

But I digress…moving from Provincial to Federal politics without a breath. Sorry. I’ll try and keep you posted on the course of the election campaign. Of course, the writ has yet to be dropped, so there is no election as yet. We all expect is imminently.

The calm before…

It’s been a quiet week in many ways, not much happening in my life other than the usual tasks and problems. As a follow-up to my last post, the weather has been abnormally warm, up to + 14 C in the daytime. Much of our snow has melted, and the fields are looking bare and dry. This is, I believe, the harbinger of a very dry summer, unless…you know what I will say: “more snow…wind…cold…WINTER!”

I know, I know, a broken record. But in all honesty, the current weather makes all my Spidey senses tingle. I tell people, “Watch out, it will come, and we have to be ready!” (Boring, right?)

In one small way, this has been a difficult week. I’ve been swimming my regular one-kilometer on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but this week, at the end of my swim, I felt really tired. I was also the last one out of the pool – a psychological issue for me – but the weariness troubled me. Do I need more sleep? Is it the age thing slowly catching up with me? I grind my gears about this.

On top of that, I found my walks difficult. My knees complain, perhaps because I’m not walking every day, as before. All in all, I’ve begun to monitor my body with greater diligence, just to see if I am overdoing it. Paranoia?

Beatrix and I have had a good week, lots of closeness time, and good talks. That always helps me when other things are on my mind. I found myself wondering what I would possibly do if she wasn’t in my life. That thought is likely spurred by the fact that she has a surgery date in April. Not serious serious, but…surgery is surgery.

Embracing the weather…

For those far away; I live on the Canadian prairies, at the west end, very close to the Rocky Mountains. Driving south on the highway, one can see the mountains in the distance. Prairie weather in winter consists of snow in large quantities, and wind: constant wind. The prevailing wind here is from the Northwest, and it always has a sharp edge.

Further east on the prairies, the weather is very cold for a much longer period than we get here. Minus 30 C is not uncommon, and -40 C happens usually once every winter. Our weather is a bit tempered by the Rockies, over which war air flows from the Pacific. We still get very cold weather, usually not colder than -30. When it gets that cold here, everybody squawks. Locals like to think of themselves as almost mountain people, just a stone’s throw from the Pacific coast.

Why do I tell you this? Two reasons: the first is that this is what prairie people do a lot of the time – talk about the weather! It’s either too cold in winter, or to hot in summer. There is either way too much rain, or it’s a drought. See how much you are learning about me? After awhile, it gets quite boring, but we never stop doing it.

I tell you all this because this winter has been – so far – very different. I have not had to wear my Canada Goose parka (made for the arctic) even once so far. I’ve plodded through slush more often than snow, and my hands have been almost warm most of the time. All of which is to tell you that we are having an incredibly mild winter. Most folks are thrilled with that. Warm! Almost no snow! I feel quite differently about this condition. It makes me nervous. I keep thinking, “If March is so warm, what will happen in April…or even May?”

I feel this way partly because I am a ‘winter person.’ I love winter. I love the challenge of weather. My motto as a runner, and now a walker, is: “Weather won’t stop me. I can conquer that!” I have run thirteen miles in -40 weather, because I had the correct gear. Last winter, I walked my 5 km one morning when it was -38 C, and the most I suffered was feet getting cold because the chill came through the soles of my boots. I suppose it’s a fetish. So sue me!

The main reason I like winter in the winter months has to do with climate change and greenhouse gases. I like in a province that produces a lot of greenhouse gas. We are major polluters, mostly because those that run thing poo-poo the climate change fears. I embrace those fears. I don’t like warm weather in February and March because it’s a drastic change in our weather patterns. I fear for what that will mean for April if the weather patterns are disrupted and changed. There have been spring seasons when there was a killing frost and snow late in April, after trees had begun to sprout buds, and some wild flowers were already in bloom. That change in the weather meant death of the buds, death to freshly sprouted winter wheat, a real setback for agriculture, some danger to our food supply.

Folks who applaud warmth a March are probably not thinking about “what comes next?” When you can rush off to a warm place in winter, the importance of that season can be sloughed off. Embracing winter is one thing I can do to celebrate the land where I am placed, to face what comes with joy. Somehow this perverse enjoyment of mine is linked to my recovery program. On the frozen streets, as in the warm pool, I plug away and celebrate where I am.