Crazy Weather
Yesterday, Vancouver had snow–real snow, the kind that requires snow plows and snow tires, things Vancouverites usually don’t have. The tv shots showed what we would call a blizzard, with low visibility and cars sliding out of control. Years ago, Vancouver had rainy, dreary winters, but seldom snow. As a romantic, I always felt that the dusting of snow we might get over Xmas was not enough to even get excited about. I usually spent the winter under an umbrella, wet, chilly, depressed. I recall how the cups hanging in the cupboard of my basement suite were slimy to the touch from the damp that pervaded everything, like a mist that seeped under the doors and around the window sills.
When I came to Montreal in autumn 1967, I was amazed at the weather. Autumn was golden, sunny, mellow, all that autumn should be, alternating with crisp days that were good for kicking leaves. If it rained, you waited a few minutes until it cleared up to go outside. I didn’t even buy an umbrella until I had been here for two years. Winter came early–in 1968, the first snow fall came before Halloween, for example–but it was bright and cold, with snow sparkling everywhere and lots of sunshine. I immediately lost all my winter depression. I really got into the weather, facing it in a long, warm, khaki coat ( a woman’s army coat, with brass buttons engraved with the head of Athena) purchased from the Sally Ann; leather, knee-high boots so tight that I needed John’s help to put them on and off ; and a Russian-looking faux fur hat. I felt like Lara out of Dr. Jhivago, and yet trendy.
In contrast, our weather lately, in mid-November, has been very mild and rainy. Rain as in Vancouver rain, that lasts all day long and requires an umbrella. And then, this past week, the rain stopped and the sun came out. The temperature was unseasonably warm (around 5-7 C), and people could be seen without coats, some even in shorts. John complained that the tennis nets had been taken down too soon, although in truth he and his fellow tennis nuts had been playing until the end of the first week in November. Some things in the garden, confused, have started to grow again. Some have blossoms! All this is very nice, especially since we also hear that Calgary and Regina have temperatures in the -20 range, as well as snow. I think we currently are the warmest spot in Canada—Montreal, of all places!
If this is global warming, I have to say that it isn’t too bad for us. However, for the rest of the country, things are crazy. And I hear that in Siberia they are having weather similar to ours in Montreal, and the tundra is melting. Not too bad, you might think; they could use warmer weather in Siberia. But the animals that usually hibernating are not doing so. The rabbits have turned white, and are being killed by raptors at unusually high rates because they show up against the brown of the landscape. And there will soon be no food for the bears, who are wandering around blearily, wondering what season it is.
In short, just because global warming isn’t harming us doesn’t mean it’s not causing real problems elsewhere. We have to do something about trying to rein in this trend, but no one in power seems to be able to–certainly not Bush or Harper. Will things change when Bush is finally out of power? We can only hope so.
