Shovel’n snow to in the drive,

Mov’n fast just to stay alive,

Winds dipped it down to -35…

Damn it’s cold!

Reminds me of growing up in the prairies. Growing up with my mum, a German immigrant and a very eccentric one at that! She hated cold, and all that was involved with cold: the snow, snowmobiles, being outdoors , not to mention the total loss of fashion sense. I mean seriously how sexy can a pair of long john’s be…(Oh Got ….Yohannas! …[He was my dad]…. get dos ugly sings off!” ) Got to understand , this is a woman who though camping meant staying in a 4 star hotel.

She could never understand our need to be outdoors playing, (my sister and I)  but she was determined to protect us from ourselves none the less. She faithfully packed us for safekeeping in the winters cold. I say this both lovingly and sarcastically all at the same time. Mind you in her defense the parries did get cold.

A pair of tights, a pair of long johns, a standard pair of socks, a pair of pants, a woolly pair of socks extended over these, (Oh my God,  I cant feel my toes, my legs…. everything’s been cut off from the waist on down!…) a t-shirt, a turtle neck, a sweater pulled over, and a button up on top of all that. (Is it getting hot in here, or is it just me?) Here comes the full length , one piece, suitable to minus 666 degrees of pure hell, snow suit! (Portable sauna I call it.) You getting stuffed in it. This is the best way to describe it. On comes the toque. Do you remember them ? They were like old fashioned night caps plus…. with 4 feet of ample wool to place on the head, and to wrap several times around the mouth nose throat, (on down even if you wanted to!) with yarn to spare. And don’t forget the fluffy pom-pom on the end that always intrigued the cat. Enticed it to crawl up the back and try to tear off with that fluffy ball; so nicely attached to the toque, wrapped tight  around the face and throat….(Damn cat…… if I catch you, I’ll put you in doll clothes again!) One pair of finger mitts, and another pair of wool gloves to top that…..and an insulated pair of skidoo gloves over that,  (who needs manual dexterity, wasn‘t like I was going outside to play! ) now on with the boots!