it's not cold, that's my attitude

Ohh.. its' so cold.. 

Burrrr..I can't believe how cold it is..

It snowed?.. in Vancouver? OMG 

Ok.. yes it snowed. Yes, there is ice on my scooter. Yes, it won't start. Yes, the temperature dropped to -5 but honestly.. I have to bite my tongue when people in Vancouver complain about the cold. The grass is green under that snow and the roses are blooming up the road. People still sit on heated patios.

I remember when I was growing up in Alberta..losing my house key and being some unfortunate teenager who dressed inappropriately because it was nerdy to have a parka and mitts and snow boots. So, I suffered in Converse Sneakers and no gloves in the garage praying to God to let me live another day so I could learn my science lesson about wind chill without loosing my toes.

I remember snowstorms that shut down the city. Snow drifts so high that my apartment door had to be pushed on before it would open. You didn't dream leave the house without some serious skin coverage, even if I was going to walk the 5 blocks to the local whatever to relieve the boredom. The nose piercing I had back then would freeze in 20 seconds. The tip of my nose a few seconds after that.

I've waited fruitlessly for buses in blizzards, walked in -30 with a windchill of -400, endured having clothing seasons of special protective clothing and huddled in corners smoking with my fingers going numb. (I don't smoke anymore and one of those pitiful scenes of Edmontonians huddled around a ashtray in the arctic winds was a motivating factor of why to quit).

Thus, when you live in Vancouver and it snows for all of 3 weeks and a cold snap hovers around -5.. I have 4 words to complaints about the cold..

We've got it good. (..well my first 4 words were a little bit more colorful than that).

PS. Alberta was the 2nd coldest place on the planet last Tuesday. Stay warm family.