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.

minus a million degrees

Days like today it might as well be minus a million degrees outside. I mean come on – at what point do the numbers cease to have meaning? Can people really tell the difference between -34 and -38? I sure can’t. All I know is it is stinking cold. Thus, two things I have been thinking about:

a) Bike Riding

b) Roof Insulation

Now, at first (and possibly second) glance, the two are unrelated. And yet not.  Let me explain.

Bike Riding: We are a one car family. We like having one car for many reasons — it lowers our eco-footprint and makes mother earth smile, it saves us money, and it enables us to spend more time together (we hypothesized about the possibility of writing a book called “Sell Your Second Car to Save Your Marriage” the other day while chatting on the way home from work). That said, there are times when it’s just inconvenient (just ask my vice-principal who lives a few blocks away, and today, at -48 with the windchill, stopped at our place to pick me up for work because my wife had an appointment to go to.) Hence, I have decided that this summer, I will bicycle. A lot. Advice from a good friend Ben was to buy a good bike, with all the accessories needed (panniers, lights, etc) so that it would be as convenient as possible to ride. So, I’m researching bikes. And looking forward to positive integers representing the temperature.

Roof Insulation: We have a vaulted ceiling. Though I really like the architectural look, it has about 4″ of 1961 insulation between it and the worn shingles above. Not exactly the R-40 insulation value recommended in parts like these. So, as our furnace blasted away last night, filling the sky with carbon dioxide, and we shivered under a blanket on the couch, we decided that it would be a good idea to rip off the roof this summer, re-run some rafters, add about 12″of insulation (bringing it to R-40) and re-shingle. Between the federal and provincial governments, we’ll qualify for about $1800 in retro-fit eco-grants once the work is done. That should cover some of the cost. Since we’ll do the labour ourselves (good thing we’re teachers!) it should end up paying for itself rather quickly. And the savings on our conscience will be nice.

Then you live in a place where your house spends a portion of the year heated 60 degrees Celsius warmer than the outside temperature, you’ve gotta do something. For us, it’ll involve a bike, lots of sweat, and some insulation. I wonder how many bats of R-20 I can fit in the panniers?