The Next Step

Seriously? Minus thirty four? February 1? Should not be that way. Remember how I had suggested previously that the end of January was another milestone in surviving winter? Here we are and it would appear winter is still here and here with a vengeance. Even people who normally don’t complain are beginning to question the snow and the cold.

So along comes the groundhog. Who cares whether he sees his shadow or not. Does it really matter? We are in the depth of winter and I don’t really think a groundhog will change that. Especially in Manitoba where the official groundhog is a puppet, for crying out loud. So we waste our time and energy trying to figure out whether a puppet can see its shadow? Come on. Environment Canada may not always be accurate but surely we can do better than that.

It’s the kind of cold where rubber turns to steel. Normal asphalt becomes so hard that you could probably skate on it. You know where I am going with this. You look sideways once, just once, and out of the exhaust haze appears the back end of a bus. You take a quick look to see whether changing lanes is an option. There is frost on the window. There are no options. You slam on the brakes. Anti –lock Brake systems kick in. Traction control kicks in. Panic kicks in. Your life flashes before your eyes. Actually that was my wife telling me I should have put on those winter tires. I am sliding towards what can only be described as chaos. The only thing worse than hitting something is waiting to hit something. Why? Why is this happening?

I managed to stop on time. At this point my heart is beating at a minimum of 4 times what should be considered a normal heart rate. I need time to recover. The bus starts moving. I have no choice but to carry on. I commiserate about the cold. I look skyward. I see the sun. But wait. There are sun dogs. That means that cold weather is here for another six weeks. But that goes against what the ground hog told us. Is there hope? Will I survive?

I sent a message to one of my golfing friends. Simply asked when we might start the season this year. Hoping she could provide some hope. After all, the groundhog and the sun dogs are not helping. I need something. Fifty four more sleeps. That was her answer. Now I only need to figure out whether she knows. But then again, who am I to argue. It is that woman’s tuition. I hope she is right.

I just checked the weather. I notice that our normal highs are going up. The sun is providing some warmth. There is more daylight. Notice I did not say our days are getting longer? My wife suggested yesterday that she could almost imagine spring. That is what I am going with. Spring is around the corner. I will survive.

In the mean time I am finding my happy place. You got it. I am golfing in my imagination. The sun is warm. The grass is green. Worries are gone. Anxiety has gone into hibernation. I hit my first shot and see it disappear into the sun rise. I know I can do this. In my happy place I don’t even par the first hole. I settle for a bogy. It does not matter. I know there are better things to come. I love it. Make it a good one.