January’s polar vortex (whatever the rocket science is) invasion sent many Canadians and their southern neighbors chilling to the bones, as they sought refuge from the icy Artic blasts, heaping thicker bundles of clothing over their bodies if they can’t keep out of the elements.
Hot and warm are cool and chill words that resound whenever this weather pattern — one of the worst ever experienced was the Canadian ice storm of December 2013 – creates a horrible winter twist.
Rejoice, however, at the weather takes of groundhogs or woodchucks during the popular February 2 traditional Groundhog Day festivals in Northern America. Why not? A party has to happen between New Year’s Day and Valentine’s Day, and that party seems to be the most fun way to herald the coming of spring.
Be positive, said sturdy men in town crier’s robes. Woodchuck Wiarton Willie (WW) of Wiarton, the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, got out of his den and did not see his shadow. That predicted an early spring in his most recent weather awakening since 1956. In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania across the border, furry forecaster Punxsutawney Phil – who had carried on this German-influenced tradition since 1887 — agreed with Wiarton Willie.
Ooops! No way, but enjoy the wintry air anyway, so said the costumed messenger on the predictions of Shubenacadie Sam of Ontario’s Shubenacadie Provincial Wildlife Park and Fred la marmotte of Val d’Espoir in Québec. Sam and Fred saw their shadows and went back to bed to while away their winter blues.
It is a split decision between these beavers that cannot swim. There is lesser need to get the “shadowy” opinions of their less popular meteorologist-colleagues Balzac Billy of Alberta, Brandon Bob and Winnipeg Willow of Manitoba, Kleinburg Gary and Oil Springs Ollie of Ontario, and Dundas Donna of Toronto.
Come on! Ending fun things with an even score may either be fair or otherwise. So, how do you vote? Perhaps, it is good to be guided by a line in English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley’s immortal Ode to the West Wind: “O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?”
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Mother Nature, however, will continue to be in charge, notwithstanding the not-so mysterious scientific and environmental readings and calculations for climate and weather are concerned.
What? The year 2018 was the Planet Earth’s fourth warmest in recent years, preceded only by the year 2016, 2015 and 2017 from first to third? Is global warming real?
How I wish Canada would have some kind of tropical likeness during winter. Every time I embrace the bright shining sun during winter, I also turn a blind eye to the thermometer, barometer and other atmospheric devices. That is, without prejudice to dreaming of a cruise to the nearby Caribbean islands or to heading to the pristine falls and white sand beaches in the Philippines. I heard my friend Romy is developing a resort in Isla Verde off Batangas, which I might as well visit. Alas! I am quite stuck in my well-heated room with my interchangeable cane and crutches and my meds.
Did you know that Vancouver has had one of the warmest winters recorded in Canada? Vancouver came second to Victoria and was followed by Abbotsford and Kelowna. All these places are in British Columbia. Wow! This must be why, as a news network reported during the February 12 snowstorm in Vancouver, a TV guest asked if it would be appropriate to use an umbrella during a heavy snow pour.
Let’s get back to Mother Nature. She has this innate penchant for keeping the natural order of things within her realm. The only thing she looks forward to is that her sons and daughters realize that silence and inaction will never work against the collective battle against gold, greed for power and guns.
When the forces of evil decimates the gifts and blessings Mother Nature lays for everyone’s use and enjoyment of a wonderful world, she also unleashes a few environmental tricks and anomalies just to remind all that the planet is the only home earthlings all hope to live and die peacefully and safely in.
Quick hit from Mang Asyong: “Respect nature. Never go against it.”
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As I am writing this piece in the aft of February 13 (Balita’s Deadline Day), the most recent two-day snowstorm has subsided. Perhaps, it also is the end of freezing rain, ice pellets, rain showers, wicked cold winds, slush and other pesky wintry troubles. The blanket of white remains visible outside. Snow shovels, snow blowers and snow plows are on the job … so on and so forth.
Children are back to school, after having a one-day Snow Day liberation that most, if not all, appreciated beyond reasonable doubt. After screaming “Yehey!” when told that schools were closed, they moved the blankets away and simply did their stuff.
Well, we all know what adults do … so just shout …
Yehey! To get the wintry anomalies off my mind, I dig in to sports, books and food, with my interchangeable cane and crutches and meds keeping me company.
Sports? There are the Toronto Maple Leafs to enjoy watching and, of course, the Toronto Raptors to root for. Both teams are doing great in their respective divisions and in the Eastern Conference.
Maple Leafs players wowed their captive fans during their annual outdoor practice workout at the Nathan Phillips Square on February 7. Despite the not-so-good wintry conditions, fans took to the square, particularly bundled-up children who never felt guilty skipping school to be with their hockey heroes.
You know, I was not there. I saw it on TV; just as I watched the Leafs clobber the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 in an out-of-town game on February 12. Will the Leafs win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Valentine’s Day? I hope they would.
Similarly, the Raptors kept me off the winter blues, by winning five straight games, understaffed as they might have been and suiting up for acclimatization with their newly-acquired players Marc Gasol and Jeremy Lin. I hope they showed their best mettle against the Washington Wizards at home court on the night of Balita’s D-Day, when both teams played their last game before the All-Star break on February 17.
Books? Being in the comfort and safety of the home was always the appropriate advice during snowstorms. Thus, reading a book came in handy as a DIY time flyer. Leafing through the pages of antiquated Archie comic books I inherited from the library of late colleague Tenny Soriano did me good, as it did everyone who bought the first Archie Comics published in Winter 1942.
I tried to read a few novels that glared at me from the rarely touched bookshelf. Unfortunately, my eyes get strained. I also do not want to get the ire of my wife. When I read, I focus a lot and I can no longer hear her command me to do the dishes. New spectacles and hearing aids, what do you think?
Really, I love getting older. It makes me prove to myself that I will always be the leaf that would cling to the bough in all humor and positivity. Why not listen to the Cascades’ The Last Leaf?
Food? Pound for pound, I like food — anything that my lips, mouth and taste buds should savor and enjoy – not only during winter but throughout the year. Frankly, don’t you?
Well, just a bit of this and that, if and when suggested by friends and doctors who hate salt and sugar – which, in all prospects, means NOT FOR CONSUMPTION. My reasoning: I don’t want to die yet, so I will eat.
Unlike Pambansang Kamao Manny P. (I dislike it when his last name is pronounced in slang), there is nothing to brag about my weight and my body built.
A body builder (yung gumagawa ng Sarao jeep) once told me: “Pare, kung maglakad ka, para kang bariles na gumugulong.” Sinagot ko na lang ng “Ang pogi mo. Saan ka nagpa-vulcanize?”
Food provides body heat. Eat but also burn calories and unwanted fat, by moving and exercising, during winter, Mang Asyong also advised. It keeps the body fit, literally and figuratively. That makes sense. I think I’ll follow that.
Let me recall Impong Pedro’s attribution: “Eat a lot of leaves. Tingnan mo ang kambing.” “Ah, ewan!”
By leafs and pounds, I will embrace, stand by and survive winter.
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Let’s look at it this way: Spring can’t be too far behind. It will come in due time.
Be patient, Spring will soon be here and with it are Mother Nature’s gifts and blessings, promising the best material and spiritual growth by leaps and bounds (a term that is a redundancy, since leap and bound both mean “spring” or “jump”).
Meanwhile, even if Valentine’s Day has passed, keep spreading the blanket of love around.
Be warm to all. #####