Back in the saddle…so to speak…

Today was the first day of the year that I rode my bike to work. Yes, May 7th. Terribly late. Last year I was riding much earlier — the 3rd week of April. However, the winter has been brutally long and cold, and, even this morning, it was barely above freezing when I left at 7:30. It was up to 15 degrees Celsius by the time I rode home, but still. So why do people live in this god-foresaken land?

Perhaps it’s our honest politicians or our progressive views on energy generation. Oh no wait. It must be something else. In our case, it is our good and interesting friends and family. Thank goodness for them. Because honestly, without them, this place would really suck.

Talk about the weather

For two years I lived in the tropics. For two years I sweated. Daily. And profusely. For two years I ran the air conditioning in my bedroom at night. I complained about the heat. I complained when my classroom aircon quit. However, as I reflect on those years, I am starting to see that things we “endure” becomes much more appealing once they have passed.

For example, this winter, I longed for the days of never ending sweat, sunburnt feet, and hit and miss aircon. This winter was cold in Saskatchewan. Very cold. Colder than usual, they say. And I hated every minute of it. I had kind of forgotten how much I hated it until I spent last week in Hawaii with my mom. But, a week spent in the tropics again reminded me of the glory of nice weather. My body quickly adapted to my made-in-Cambodia shorts and $2 Russian Market flip flops. I happily met the morning breeze, as it floated in the open windows of my mom’s house. The day before we left I cut the silicone that had sealed our own 1960s windows shut for the winter — they had gone un-opened in 5 months.

Hence, the question that came to the forefront of my mind as I was flying home yesterday was “why.” Why would someone choose to live in Saskatchewan? One argument is that it was cheap. Well, it is not nearly as affordable as it used to be.
The days of cheap housing anywhere in Saskatchewan are over. So why am I back? Well, it turns out that over and above the weather, this is where my friends and family live. Or most of them, anyway. And I do like them. So, I’ll stick out another winter or five, and enjoy the company. And drink a lot of hot chocolate to cope, I suppose.