Dear Mother Nature...
We get it. Really. Global warming is real, it's here and we're officially f*cking the planet. Can we please stop with the snow already?? Consider us officially beaten into submission...
I'm Canadian. I've lived here all my life. I get winter (Lord knows I've lived through enough of them). Snow is understandable. So is ice. But I've taken *two* snow days from work in the past month without ever leaving the house. The last time I called work and said I wasn't coming because of the weather I actually drove in it, got to the edge of town and realized that while I may get to work *eventually*, my prospects for getting home before midnight sucked (ok, I exaggerate, but you get the idea). And that was at least two years ago, when Brampton didn't seem to know what a snow plow was, or what it was supposed to be used for (it can still take them some time to clear my street, but they plow and salt/sand the main ones now in a fairly timely manner).
But this winter? Has been hell. I work clear on the other side of town. It usually takes me 45 minutes to get to work and just over an hour to get home, rain or shine. Last Friday it took two hours, and I spent half an hour trying to get to a main intersection it usually takes me five minutes to get to. And that's a good day when the storms come calling.
The snow (before) would come, we'd shovel and the sun would come out and melt a good deal of it before the flakes flew again. That we all could handle. This winter there have been four foot drifts in the backyard almost since the season started and the ones out front are so high clearing the driveway has been fairly interesting (I toss it, half of it falls back on the driveway, and I shift it again. Lather, rinse, repeat). I'm very lucky that we have an amazing next door neighbour that owns a snow blower (which, I believe, the stores ran out of in early January. Trying to find shovels has been difficult as well in certain areas of the city) and isn't afraid to use it.
It's also been a *lot* colder than we have gotten used to. It is, I admit, an improvement over winter from a couple of years ago. That year, the temps would flutter by 10-15 degrees in one day (i.e. -7 when you left the house, + 5 when you got home). My poor bod didn't know if it was coming or going, and sleeping was a b*tch (turn the heat up 'cause it was cold, turn it down when it got warm, or leave it where it was adjust the amount of blankets as needed). I was never so happy to see April. This year, everyone I talk to feels the same way, x100. More than one person I know has murderous intent in their eyes when groundhogs are mentioned. Early spring my a**.
My cat is even peeved (kinda hard to run the snow when your paws won't touch the ground). She looks out at the weather, then up at me as if I'm somehow responsible. She doesn't look like she believes me when I plead innocent.
Anyone have a free trip south floating around?