Mid April Dumps

April was looking positive. The sun was out and the temps were in the positives. It looked like winter was finally over. A feeling I had not felt in a while was returning. I sense of hope. Hope for warmth and vitamin D. Walking to and from work with a skip in my step, proclaiming to the world that the long eternal winter, had finally acquiesced to the sun and warmth of spring. My grasp of the English language more eloquent as I use words like acquiesce.

Then came what was the most bipolar week I've experienced since arriving in Montreal. Monday started off around the 8 degrees Celsius mark and increased to 24 in a matter of hours, quite strange but you heard no complaints from me about this:

 

 (This temperature made my face muscles do this :D )

 Then Wednesday came:

 (Temperature difference of 30 degrees makes my face do this D: )

Everyone was skeptical of the warmth. Many predicted one final snow dump. And they were right. Again came the snow:

(Back go on the winter boots)

Luckily the snow didn't stay for very long. Gone in a day, Montreal was back to 'normal' like nothing had happened. Now back around the -2 to early positives, the last couple of weeks have been very strange.

Bill Murray in "Groundhog Day" sums up how I felt about this winter quite accurately.

But it's becoming clear that actual proper warmth is in sight. I hope...

April

So it's finally April, and the temperatures have leveled out around the single positives, atleast for the last few days. I for one am glad March has come and gone, that month was by far the worst mentally and psychologically.

Mainly because it snowed every single week. Every single week of March it snowed. Without fail.

(This was the first week of March)

(This was the last week of March)

The thermals have been discarded the last week and a bit, and although it's still coat weather and the damn wind makes you wish you had worn an extra layer, it's been sunny and pleasant. I'm coming to believe that there may actually be a point where I will feel warmth again. A time where the sun in the sky isn't just a large ball of light that you've been strongly advised against staring at.

I don't remember what warmth feels like. I hardly remember what the color green looks like.

Lousy Smarch Weather

For most normal countries, winter consists of the months of December, January February (or June, July August for Southern Hemispheres like where I hail from). Wikipedia can back me up. It's on the internet so it must be true.

But no, not in Canada, and definitely not in Montreal. It's currently early March and this is what I had to deal with on the way to work today.

(Montreal winters are lengthy)

Yep, that's -20 in early March. Although it was sunny as shit, and very little wind chill to destroy your face, it's still an effort to put on enough clothes and layers so you don't DIE when you go outside. You want to leave for work by 8am? Start getting dressed around 7:30, it's going to take a while.

I must admit, it hasn't been as crazy as I was led to believe or as intense as I thought it was going to be. Yes sure, -20 is not normal (although I've come to accept it to be a part of my daily life) and when the temperatures rise to single digits (but still in the negatives), everyone rejoices at the fact we can go outside without considering that extra 4th layer of clothing.

In saying that, although early January was probably the worst and coldest of all this winter (like everyone said it would be), I find myself dealing with March weather in a much less positive way. January I was ready for, it was built up to be the worst and yes it was the worst. Just look at my previous post, my freaking face froze. -41 wind chill is not a happy experience. But no one said it would still feel the same in March. Yes jokingly people said winter lasts forever, but at most I thought by now it would be a tiny bit milder.

It's definitely a psychological thing.

Winter is over, technically it should be spring, there should be flowers blooming and birds doing bird stuff and something and so on. But no, it's still the same intense cold and snow is still everywhere and I'm still looking at my feet when walking outside for 99% of the time in fear of ice. And every second day it snows. Don't get me wrong, when it snows it's super pretty.

On a more somber note, during my walk home from work I've seen the same dead pigeon on the side of the road for the last month, I thought it disappeared underneath a foot of snow, but no, the snow melts away and it's still there. Frozen until summer I'm assuming. I think I will name it Bob.

Lousy Smarch weather...

Igloofest

Every January and early February, Montreal throws what can only be called 'An outdoor Rave in the snow' by the name of Igloofest. Down in the beautiful Old Port of Montreal, Thursday to Saturdays for about a month, a giant colorful stage encapsulates a peninsula over the frozen lake.

Thursday morning, my friend Andrew emailed me simply stating "Igloo tonight", and knowing it was probably a once in a lifetime experience, I figured what better night to go. The forecast was light snow with a low of about -15. Perfect conditions to be out in the snow having my face blasted by loud music. Right?

After pre-drinking at Andrew's apartment on cheap wine, and friends Samer and Nic in tow, we made the 15min walk towards the canal of the Old Port, stopping along the way to climb up the giant snow mounds. Apparently a night of Canadian firsts, as I was descending down one of the giant snow mounds, Andrew pelted me with first Canadian snow ball to the face. Truthfully it felt more like an ice ball then a snow ball.

(Ice ball to the face)

Then in a mad fit of rage, I completely forgot Montreal is covered in ice, as I attempted to chase down the snow ball assailant, which ended in me doing this.

(Ice fall count = 2)

Once inside, alcoholic hot chocolate in hand, I was amazed to see how giant the stage set up was, surrounded by screens and lights, the vibe was insane. No one cared that it was -15 because frankly you didn't feel it in the mosh pit. It was a surreal experience of being snowed on, having music blasted in your face and crazy dancing.

(Montreal cares not about the cold)

"One Month Winter Report" by Andrew Pele

Written by friend and conceptual creator of this blog, Andrew reviews my first month of this Montreal winter.


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Dan’s One Month Winter Report

Admittedly I didn’t believe we’d see much of Dan throughout the winter. I imagined that he’d go into some sort of Aussie-like hibernation mode following the first icy cold day of our long winter. But we are almost a month into it and his perseverance hasn’t diminished yet!

It seems as though the Aussie really prepared himself as best he could. Gloves, hat, jacket, and layer upon layer of sweaters, long johns, and thick socks. However, little did he know that preparing for winter in Montreal is not just about gathering your materials – it’s a mental game. He had a certain arrogance about him the first few cold weeks, he thought he had beat down those blistery days just below zero and survived the first of many “cold” days…HA! His attitude caught up with him very quickly as we walked through a near empty parking lot and a friend slipped straight on his ass and into a poll. ‘Oh how funny!’ Dan thought, as he laughed with tears in his eyes. But not ten seconds later and he too was on his ass sliding around on his own icy tears of laughter. ‘F’kin Aussie,’ I thought to myself.

All this goes to say, Dan is officially diagnosed (by myself) as a pagophobic. What is pagophobia? An intense and irrational fear of ice. Since the fall he hasn’t been the same. He can conquer the coldest of days, trekking across the entire city for hours at a time. But at no cost will he risk another ice slip. Walking around every shortcut in town, sticking to the main roads, and walking indoors whenever he can. In trying to conquer his fear I lured him to a path laden in ice. He begged that we cross another way, go back to the road and walk on the streets covered in salt and rock, I refused. This icy path must be no longer than 60 meters, and only about two thirds of that is truly covered in ice. As I cross the path without missing a step I turn around only to see my companion still standing only about 3 meters into the path flopping around like a penguin and continuously looking up for something to grab on to. Ten minutes later he emerged on the other side of the path, out of breath but relieved.

He conquered the ice path but I’m not sure if he’s going to make it through the rest of winter. He has the gear, but the cold is getting the better of his mind…. One more slip and I suspect that’s the last we’ll see of the Aussie.

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To put it in context this is the kind of ice that is around at the moment:

(Iced Earth)

2014

Christmas and NYE have come and gone, and the holiday break has been restful. On the 2nd day of the new year this happened:

(Alright that's pretty cold)

But in reality this was the temperature:

(yep thats -41 degrees Celsius)

The coldest day I've ever experienced in my life, and having my eyelashes and eyebrows frost over as well:

(they did not fall off)

Weird thing about the temperature here is it'll drop into the -20s for a few days and then go back to the -5s for a week (which relatively speaking feels like summer). Could be worse, Manitoba in Winnipeg got down to -53, apparently colder then Mars.

(I'd rather be on Mars)

Giant Snow Dumps

So this happened this week:

(it was cold)

Few things I learned and or experienced so far:

- crying from the eyes because of the cold wind
- the stinging sensation your face is being cut by tiny wind blades
- the punch to the face temperature change when going from inside to out, and if you are mid sentence you choke on the cold air

 (ninja Dan says hi)