1973: Our First Canadian Winter

          The yellow leaves of the Trembling Aspen were soon on the ground, and the organic damp smell of the decomposing cottonwood leaves soon filled our nostrils, as the chill of autumn filled the ever shortened days.  The “snowfall/mud” cycle was soon replaced with the “snowfall/more snowfall” cycle and the temperatures began to drop lower and lower.  On Halloween of 1973 the temperature dipped below freezing and didn’t climb back to above freezing until spring.

         Soon we were experiencing our first Canadian winter wearing Indiana winter clothes--it was not a good combination.  We were able to keep our upper bodies warm by wearing sweaters beneath our winter coats, but our extremities were always cold, due to our lack of long underwear, warm gloves, and especially adequate winter footwear.  

    On our feet, all we had to wear in the snow were the uninsulated rubber boots (in Canada called "Wellingtons" or "gum boots") that we had brought with us from Indiana.  Throughout my life I had always suffered with cold feet during the winter, but in that first Canadian winter, I really learned what cold feet felt like.

         Even though we were ill-prepared for that first winter, we were pleased to discover that there was a huge difference between -12°C (10°F in Indiana) and that same temperature in the BC Interior.  Indiana had a moist, damp cold, which quickly went right through to your bones, whereas, in BC we were experiencing a "dry" cold, which didn't really go through you like the high moisture cold of Indiana.  It took a lot longer to feel the cold with the dry air.  Another benefit was that when the temperatures got down to say,  -30°C (-22°F), it was calm and still outside; there was no wind, which also lessened the cold that one felt. 

         I must confess it was fun to write home, telling of all the snow, and the ever increasingly cold temperatures that we were daily facing.  Our bed was right up against the bedroom wall of our little trailer, and one morning I woke up to discover that my breath had condensed and froze on the wall.  The cold temperature in our bedroom had also caused my breathe to condense and freeze the blanket to the wall.   Seeing all of the icicles in the photo below, shows just how uninsulated the travel trailer that we lived in, was.  

        We enjoyed writing about our first Canadian winter, living in the remote little community that was our  home.   The life we were living, amazed our family and friends back in the States.

Take a look at my paintings:  davidmarchant2.ca