Day 65: The Weather - According to my Son

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 65: The Weather - According to my Son

A few days ago, I had to go out. Even though it was December and presumably cold, before going out I asked my son “Is it cold out there?”

Heaven knows why I asked because I never get an accurate response. Dieter is one of those people who is completely unaffected by the cold. It must be pretty bad before he wears a coat and he never ever wears a hat or a scarf. So really, I don’t know why I bothered checking with him.

When Dieter says it’s nice, that means that I need a light sweater. When he says it’s a little chilly, a warmer sweater is needed. When he says it’s cold, I better bundle up in a coat, scarf, hat, and gloves. And when he says that it’s very cold, that means it’s freezing the balls off a brass monkey.

In summer, his temperature assessment is equally deceiving. When he says that it’s a little chilly, it’s actually quite nice. The kind of day that I can go out in a short-sleeved shirt. When he says it’s warm, that’s my cue to reach for something sleeveless. When he says it’s very warm, that means it’s hot. I can handle the heat up to 28 degrees C (86 degrees F) comfortably, but anything above that is too hot. So, when Dieter says it’s hot, that means outside the birds are falling out of the trees.

I’ll bet now you’re wondering how he describes wind and rain. So, I’ll tell you. When Dieter says, it’s okay, that means there’s a bit of a breeze. When he says there a bit of a breeze, it’s actually quite windy. And when he says it’s windy, there’s a storm going on. Now when he says that it’s very windy ... well, wherever you’re going you’re in danger of being airborne.

As for rain, he certainly can’t be trusted. It’s misty means it’s drizzling. It’s drizzling means it’s raining. It’s raining means it’s pouring. And when he says it’s raining hard there’s practically a hurricane going on.

My weather app on my phone is equally unreliable.

For instance. For today my phone said that it was 12 deg C (54 deg F). I’m sure it was 12/54 degrees somewhere, but it wasn’t in Toronto.

There have been days that the app says that 75% chance of rain is expected and there’s not a drop of water to be seen. Last winter the app predicted 6 cm of snow (a little more than 2 inches) and we got nothing than a light dusting.

Fortunately, even though my son fails to give me an accurate description of the weather and my phone app is frequently wrong, I can always rely on my cats.

When they groom themselves and they wipe a paw behind their ears ... it’s gonna rain. When the wiping involves a triple action, it’s gonna come down in buckets.

On the other hand, if they claw at the furniture or carpets, wind is expected. And believe me, it never fails.

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Day 23: Ultimate guide to women's sweaters

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 23: Ultimate guide to women's sweaters

For today's prompt writers were given freedom of choice. They could write about anything they wanted. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to write about sweaters in preparation for fall and winter.

Shopping for sweaters is relatively easy.  You want something to keep you warm and you want something in a nice color.  But what will the sweater be used for?  There is a big difference between a sweater to go skiing with and a sweater to wear around the office.  While a sports sweater has to be super warm, a sweater to wear indoors doesn’t need to be all that heavy.

Size

Many women avoid pulling on a sweater because the store is hot and the dressing room is even hotter, but sweaters need to be tried on.  A sweater might look good on the rack, but will it fit you?  It may be too tight or hang on you like a potato bag.  It may be too long or too short or there might be something wrong with the arms.  To be absolutely sure that the sweater is comfortable you need to try it on.

Color

Black and navy blue may be slimming colors that hide dirt and stains, but chances are you will grow bored with them.  Be prepared to have some color variety in your sweaters.  If you like blue, try different shades of blue; if don’t like white, settle for cream; if you already have several plain sweaters, try something with a motive.  Have a look at the colors of your skirts and pants and buy sweaters that will complement those colors. 

Style

When shopping for a sports sweater it might be a good idea to go for something with a high collar, something to keep your neck and ears warm.  On the other hand, when choosing a sweater to wear at home or around the office, a light sweater with a round neck or a V-neck might be better.  A round neck or a V-neck sweater gives you the option of wearing a variety of blouses or shirts underneath.  As an added bonus, should the office get too warm, you can take the sweater off.

Washability

Pure wool and cashmere sweaters are beautiful and soft, but expensive. Generally, they need to be hand washed or dry-cleaned.  When selecting a sweater, look at the label and see if it is machine washable.  Sweaters should generally be washed in cold water or on the delicate cycle.

You also might want to look if the sweater can be tumble dried.  Some sweaters need to be dried laying on a flat surface, which depending on the material can take up to 24 or even 48 hours. 

Material

When looking at a sweater’s label, look for words such as washable, breathable, anti-wrinkle, anti-pilling, anti-shrink, anti-static, quick dry and eco-friendly. 

There you have it. Now when you go looking for sweaters you’ll know what to look for and what to avoid.

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Are cats meteorologists

All winter I’ve been bragging about the mild temperatures in Toronto. We experienced a mild November, a pleasant December, January was not nearly as cold as expected, and February – usually the coldest month – was surprisingly warm. But now, now that we’re halfway in March, now we’re getting it.

For days now we’ve suffered freezing temperatures, with the wind chill often recording -20 or even -25. My winter coat, which I haven’t worn all winter, now comes out of the closet, along with ear warmers, gloves, and a scarf. That is, if I go outside because a few times now I’ve forfeited setting foot out the door.

Like everyone else, I’m looking forward to spring. Just six more days and the new season arrives and with it hopefully warmer weather.

As for now, Toronto – the whole of Ontario actually – is under a snow alert. There’s talk of inches and inches of snow. So far I haven’t seen anything. When I look outside I see that the balcony, the parking lot below and the surrounding fields are having a light dusting of the white stuff, but that’s it. Not 12 inches like expected, barely 2 millimeters.

A few weeks ago, it was the same when rain is expected. The weather report warned of heavy rainfall and flooding, but all Toronto experienced was a light drizzle.

These meteorologists constantly get it wrong. I don’t know what their job involves, but they don’t seem to be very good at it.

Now my cats, on the other hand, they have an excellent handle on the weather situation. If they’re grooming themselves and they wash behind their ears, rain is coming. I don’t know about other cats, but I can trust my lot.

Cat owners might be familiar with this. The cat licks her front paw and then wipes the paw back to front over her ear. If it’s a single wipe, there’s nothing to worry about, but if the paw goes over the ear two, three or even four times … then there’s definitely a chance of rain.

Perhaps the institute for weather predictions should fire their meteorologists and hire a couple of cats.

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I'm leaving

Fall has arrived. Yes, I know, officially fall arrived on September 21^st but on that day, and the days that followed, Toronto enjoyed a bright sun in a blue sky and a temperature warm enough to be outside in shirt sleeves.

Today all that has changed. The sun is nowhere to be seen, the sky is a mass of grey clouds, and it’s cold. To make matters worse, it’s raining, and rain always makes a day seem even colder.

Ordinarily, I love a rainy day, the harder it rains the better I feel. I get really creative or I curl up on the sofa with a good book, with tea and chocolates within reach.

When I have to go out I don’t like a rainy day quite as much. I have to put on a jacket and instead of sunglasses take an umbrella along. Not that an umbrella guarantees me staying dry, I’ve had more than one umbrella ruined when the wind blew it inside out.

Some might say that fall is beautiful, and I agree. The Don Valley in Toronto displays a magnificent array of colors, but for how long. Soon those yellow, orange and red leaves fall off the trees and then they lay on the ground, rotting away. Except for chrysanthemums flowers are dying and nature loses all its color.

And from here on it’s only going to get worse. If meteorologists are to be believed, we’re having a tough winter ahead of us. We’ve had a wonderful long hot summer, so they are predicting an awful long and cold winter. Ugh, I can just imagine, temperatures way below zero, snow up to our ears, black ice … well, it is Canada.

If Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, to me this is the most miserable time of the year. Fall has only just started and I’ve already had enough of it.

In winter, with packs of snow, nature at least gets transformed into a magical landscape and there’s some fun to be had. Skiing, ice skating, throwing snowballs at each other, but what’s to be done in the fall … throwing wet leaves at each other?

Maybe I should do like the Canadian geese, head south and wait for winter to pass. I can’t fly, but I can walk.

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Snow, snow and more snow

If you think it’s hard walking in this much snow, try dragging a bowling bag through it.  Yes, we went bowling this morning and we're going again tomorrow night.  If you think a few snowflakes are going to ground us, think again.  We're die hard bowlers and we let nothing and nobody stand in our way.  

Snowfall on February 8, between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

Where are the real Canadians?

Years ago, when I was very young, I met a couple who lived in Canada for a few years.  They entertained us with stories and I listen open mouthed. 

It all sounded so wonderful.  Canada sounded beautiful, but forbidding.  A place where men could be men, and women could proof what they were made of.  A land were the strong survived and the weak were send packing.

I knew there and then that I wanted to see and experience that land.  Years later I got the chance and arrived wide eyed and full of wonder in Toronto.

What I heard and saw was not what I expected.  Where were the tough men and women who took a no nonsense attitude to life?

I saw people bundled up from head to toe in a temperature of -3 degrees C (26 degrees F).

I heard that schools closed when a 30 cm (a foot) of snow was expected.

I heard of a record of car accidents because of slush on the roads.

I saw people sanitize their hands after opening a door, afraid of germs.

I saw folks lining up for a flu shot.

Who were these people and where were the tough Canadians?

We just left a hot South Africa and we were better equipped against the cold than people who lived here for years.

These weren’t Canadians. These were wimps.  When I saw a poster on a subway train stating “Citizens of Canada, show new immigrants what we are made of” I thought “What? Fluff?” 

Of course, the Canadians I met weren’t real Canadians, they were imports from other countries.  To find a real Canadian in Toronto you have to search far and wide.  You’ll find immigrants from various parts of Africa, India, the Middle East and South America, but to find a real Canadian (someone 2^nd or 3^rd generation) … no, no such luck. 

Back in Belgium we had cold winters too.  When I was a child we had no duvets, but had to make do with flannel sheets and blankets and occasionally a hot water bottle.  The bedrooms had no heating and sometimes we woke up to ice flowers on the glass windows.

We had no snow days at school.  No matter how cold it got or how much snow was on the ground, we went to school.  Not in pants and parkas mind you, but in skirts (short skirts) with no leg protection other than knee high socks.

As for snow fall … take your cue from Switzerland and Austria, Canada.  You haven’t seen snow until you’ve been to Zermatt.  Packs and packs of white stuff.  Yet nobody complains.  

Cars and trains drive on mountains with ravines of a few hundred meters (feet) deep, and everybody goes about their business like it’s just another day.

The men might offer you a glass of mulled wine or Jagermeister, while the women cheerfully fling open the windows of their houses to throw bread and nuts for the birds and squirrels.  They go about their business and when given half a chance they strap on their skis and head up the mountains.  Cold?  What cold … it’s winter, isn’t it?

In Canada the country all but comes to a standstill when the temperature drops.  Car and bus drivers turn into clumsy idiots, tacks freeze and trains get stuck, companies close early and schools don’t even open.

What happened to the Canada of my childhood stories?  What happened to all the real Canadians?

Snow ... Snow! ... Snow?

For those who haven’t quite decided what to do for a living, or those thinking about a career change, consider becoming a meteorologist.  Anyone qualifies and no experience necessary.

Take for instance yesterday’s weather forecast for Toronto.  The meteorologist predicted that the city was going to get snow.  Not just a few flurries, but the mother of snow storms.  It would snow between midnight and Friday 4:00 p.m. and as much as 6 inches (15 cm) was expected.

Before I continue, I should say that Toronto hasn’t had much of a winter so far.  It hasn’t been really cold and we’ve seen little or no snow.  So now, before it was all over with March around the corner, it was finally going to happen.

Kids rejoiced that they wouldn’t have to go to school.  Workers mentally rubbed their hands at the prospect of a day off.

Me, I was looking forward to a nice thick blanket of snow.  If I wanted a cold winter without snow, I could have stayed in South Africa.

When I woke up this morning I lay for a moment and wondered how much snow had actually fallen.  Would we be able to go to work?  Were the trains running?  If I went to work, would I find the office open or would there be a notice on the door “Closed on account of weather”?

Full of expectation I tiptoed to the window and opened the curtains, expecting to see the fields and trees weighed down with snow.  The cars in the parking lot waiting for the scraper to arrive so they could take their owners to work.   

What I saw was … a grey parking lot, slick with rain.  Where was the snow?  What had happened to the mother of all snow storms?  Where were the 6 inches?  We didn’t get 6 inches, we didn’t get 2 inches, we got nothing!  Nothing at all!!!

Later we heard that the snowstorm had passed us by.  Toronto was supposed to get a storm, but the strong wind had blown the snow elsewhere. 

Was this the first time the Toronto meteorologist got it wrong?  Let me put it this way … liar, liar, I’m surprised your pants isn’t constantly on fire.

Hello Phil

 

Yesterday was Groundhog Day.  The day Punxsutawney Phil tells us whether we get a late or early spring.  If we are to believe the little rodent, it will be a late one.  Phil proclaimed …

 

As I look at the crowd on Gobbler’s Knob

Many shadows I do see

So six more weeks of winter it must be

 

Six “more” weeks of winter?

We in Toronto haven’t really had a winter.

It’s been a little chilly, and we had a few flurries of snow, but nothing compared to other years.

I haven’t worn a sweater yet and my winter coat has been more in the closet than out.  In fact, this has been more like a long fall than a winter.

 

In the morning when I open the curtains I see either sunshine and blue skies, or soft rain from grey clouds.  I like them both equally.  While I like sunny days, every now and then a little rain must fall.  While I like rainy days, too much grey can be depressing.

 

Personally I rather like wet days.  The grayer the sky, the heaver the rain, the more creative I get.  In case you’re wondering if I’m a water sign … no, I’m a Gemini.  In the Chinese calendar I’m a rooster, a fire rooster at that.

 

Despite not being related to water I do some of my best work on rainy days and get some of my best ideas when I’m around water.  Showering and doing the dishes are inspiring, but what really gets me going is washing windows.  There’s a certain calm in washing glass, and while going from left to right and up and down, ideas for stories just come flooding in.

 

There are other people who think at their best when surrounded by water.  There was one writer who considered moving to Hawaii for precisely this reason.  His grandmother promptly replied “You want to be surrounded by water?  Take a bath.”

 

 

 

Fall has blown into town

I put flannel sheets on my bed, retrieved my winter socks and dusted off my fleece slippers.  It seems that with the arrival of October, the temperature has drastically dropped.  

What people like about the fall is beyond me.  Some get quite lyrical about it, admiring the trees and their color changing leaves.  Sure, the trees are beautiful, but the way the wind was blowing yesterday and this morning they won’t have their beautiful leafs for long.

Even though I can’t quite say that it’s grown cold, it has become rather chilly.  Chilly enough for me to have changed my shoes for boots and my cotton jacket for a woolen one.  

From now until April, or even May, I won’t be able to sit on the balcony in the canopy swing anymore; and the cats won’t be able to go outside in their kitty run.

Oh I can’t bear the thought that it will only go from bad to worse.  Flowers will completely disappear, the bare trees will soon be covered with frost and I will need to wrap myself in layers of clothing.  For the next couple of months I will need a proper winter jacket, a hat, a scarf and gloves. 

Next there will be snow and ice and with it all kinds of dangers.  I will no longer walk to the subway station, but slip and skid my way over there, desperately trying to stay vertical.  I dislike the fall and I hate the winter.

So what am I doing in Canada?  Good question.  While living in South Africa, I longed for a proper winter.  I missed the cold that brought snow and ice.  In the 15 years that I lived there, I just never got used to celebrating Christmas under a blazing hot sun.  Back then I wanted snow and ice.

Come to think of it, I like the seasons the way they are in Canada just fine.  The spring ... chilly and wet; the summer ... short but hot; the fall ... windy and somewhat depressing; and the winter ... deep freeze cold.  

I need a cup of hot tea.