Want to trade humidity for cold?

Winter in Canada began with an ice storm in December, and has just not let up at all! While we did not lose our electricity in the ice storm, this unremitting cold is ensuring that we suffer in a uniquely Canadian winter fashion.

Aside from Bob fighting off a head cold, on Friday, the blower motor in the furnace had a bearing fail. Following a grinding sound, the furnace just shut off. Needless to say, our service guy did not have that exact Lennox motor on hand. As one may expect, there is no way of getting one before Monday. And so, the house just got colder and colder.

Oh, did we mention that for more than two months, the temperature has stayed below freezing, and a mass of frigid Arctic air has gripped eastern Canada for most of that time, going nowhere in a hurry. The masses of January and February snow have frozen and compacted into everybody’s lawn-glaciers, and we are way behind in the annual thaw.

So we have the electric heaters, and the gas fireplace doing their best to replace the central heating and keep the house above freezing at the coldest time of the year. Outside, it is about -15 degrees Celsius, with the wind-chill equivalent being in the -20 to -30 range.

The cats have developed an affinity to the fireplace, and we are wearing our windbreakers in a house that is between 10 and 15 degrees, depending on the room you are in. For all of you in Florida and Guyana, before you complain about heat and humidity, you might want to try a month of winter in Canada. If there is just one saving grace about this extended period of Canadian cold, it is that the creepy crawlies that live in tropical climates cannot survive even one Canadian winter. We hope to see our family in Canada once the weather warms up. You might want to skip the Toronto area until Easter.

Spring and summer simply cannot come a moment too soon for all of us heat-starved Canadians. Post a comment below.