I used to consider 20 C chilly two years ago. That shouldn’t come as a surprise—for 12 years, I lived in Sudan, a country where summers can reach boiling temperatures of 50 C in the middle of July. I question how I survived those scorching temperatures, considering how much I hate heat.
I always knew I would move to Canada for my post-secondary studies, and one of the things I looked forward to the most was winter. I tend to romanticize experiences that are the opposite of my current reality, and Pinterest did not help with that. All those winter pictures on my feed emphasized small houses and evergreen trees adorned with glowing Christmas lights and blanketed in pure white, fluffy snow. Seeing photos of snowflakes falling against a warm-toned sky made me imagine staring into the clouds with curious eyes and rosy cheeks as the first snowfall descended on my hair.
When I moved to Calgary last year, I realized Pinterest left out a couple of key details about winter. Firstly, why did no one warn me about icy sidewalks? As a public transit user, I walk outdoors a lot. I don’t think much of it until it’s winter, and I’m hyper aware of every step I take on invisible ice, feeling my heart skip a beat when my foot wobbles over the slippery surface.
“Oh. My. God. Another close call,” I think to myself. I’ve already slipped more times than I can count.
I know this sounds questionable, but it also didn’t occur to me how truly freezing winter is. It is the number one warning everyone who has experienced winter tells you, but wow. I found myself huddled up in a big coat, wearing two pairs of gloves, which I disliked wearing. I had to take them off to use my phone outdoors and risk my fingers to the possibility of frostbite. I was paranoid that my monthly transit pass would slip from my numb fingers in the chilling winter wind. And because it was so thin compared to my layers of winter gear, I wouldn’t have noticed if it did fly away.
Doing basic outdoor chores also became more tedious in the middle of winter, like taking out the trash. During summer, I could just grab the trash bag and head right out, throw it in the bin and roll it to the street with ease for the garbage truck to pick up. But during winter, I had to mentally prepare myself for the cold. I would throw on my coat, my boots and maybe my gloves depending on how long I was going to spend out there. Sometimes I’d ditch the gloves because “it’s only two minutes,” then proceed to grab the trash bag, head out and struggle to open the ice-sealed bin with my bare hands. Plus, pushing the bin into the snow-filled street turns this entire process into a cardio HIIT session.
And my uncle told me this was a mild winter.
I wouldn’t say my entire winter experience was so full of awful inconveniences, though. I did have some of those moments I imagined myself having, like admiring the houses adorned in colourful Christmas lights. I enjoyed cozy mornings with a nice cup of hot chocolate, attended a Christmas party at the Calgary Zoo, went sledding with my little sister and took Pinterest-worthy photos of those snowy days.
This year, I want to romanticize winter while confronting the challenges that come with it. After all, winter is the longest season in Alberta. I don’t plan on being miserable for a big portion of the year, and you shouldn’t either. You can combat the cold and dark with the good things that come with winter, like holiday spirit, winter break, hot chocolate, cozy sweaters, winter sports and so much more. Like most things in life, you need to look for the positives. If you let the negatives cloud your vision, it’ll be difficult to embrace the beauty of winter that others—like myself, at one point—yearn to experience.
