Onset of Winter

Bulrushes

Although Victoria is the Hawaii of Canada, we are presently experiencing snow, wind and 6 below temperatures (15 below wind chill).  For anyone not converted to metric that is the same as 25 and 5 Fahrenheit.  I am writing this rough outline on paper, by candle light because our power is out.  Without power!!!  What do we do? Help? Our home has electric heat, stove, lights, computers, televisions, garage door openers, coffee machines, beer bottle openers (well that is an exaggeration) – but you get my drift.  So, I definitely have the ‘mood setting’ for writing by candle light, with no electricity, as it was when I was a child.  The exception being, in days of yore, the wood burning cook stove gave us heat, coffee and somewhere in the kitchen the beer bottle opener would have been nailed onto the wall.  I have truly turned into some sort of a wimp, living where I do today (and complaining), compared to the winters of my youth. The onset of winter was always the best when we would not have much snow fall after the river started to freeze over. With very little snow on the ice, it would allow us to skate on the river, ponds and small lakes.  One year when I was around 13, I and an older friend skated up the river for hours, having to actually walk on the banks around any rapids (that had not yet frozen over).  The river had so many turns and bends that to travel a mile ‘as the crow flies’ you would actually skate about three times further.  The majority of the river activities would be at the south side of town. Some days it would be like a ‘Winter Wonderland” scene from a movie – all ages doing so many different things – it was so much fun.  If there was a few inches of snow, the skaters would have scraped large skating areas, and with the snow it allowed cars to tow skiers down and around the river.  There would be two, three or more camp fires, with logs pulled around for people to sit to put on their skates, and of course to roast wieners and marshmallows.  Sometimes as darkness approached, skaters would soak bulrushes in kerosene, light them (they would burn for a long time) and then skate around with their torches.  Yes – truly a scene from a movie – such a great childhood memory!  But alas, once too much snow would fall, that time would be gone until next year, weather permitting.