Ghosts of Winter Past

One of the things I like most about Ottawa is that even though it is not the USA, it is close enough for me to catch an occasional little wave of nostalgia from my childhood in Iowa and Oregon. Halloween is an obvious example, but there are plenty of smaller things. For example…

~ The intense quiet found by standing outside alone at night during a heavy snowfall. It’s wonderful. It’s beautiful. And it is very, very peaceful.

~ Incredibly cold and sweet drinking water straight from the taps in winter. It’s like drinking ice water, without having to make a glass of ice water. This one also reminded me of a particular dead of winter event in my teens when I had to crawl around under a house in Baker City, blow torch in hand, because the water pipes had frozen. Not quite as sweet.

~ Creating a bedtime light show via static electricity. A proper snowy winter is cold and dry, so all you need is a your PJs, sheets and friction. The sparks you'll generate just by rolling over are amazing.

I am really looking forward to seeing what else I will recall come the Spring, Summer and Fall.