Winter is here and so am I.

The sky has fallen and slopped icy clouds all over Montreal.


It is an obstacle course to get to my work, which is a thirty minute walk away through treacherous urban terrain. The wind threatens to rip half my face off, snow works to seep into every available crevasse targeting my flesh and of course there's my arch nemesis - the dreaded black ice, which has only started to burgeon across every walk space. Consequently, I have already slipped once which shouldn't surprise those who know my defaults.


There are little men in tiny little yellow Tonka trucks that chase each other down the footpaths on opposite sides of the street. Despite their efforts of pushing the snow to the side more starts to plummet to the ground anyway and my inappropriate shoes still get wet.
Last night as I powered home I had my reins pulled to a slow trot when an elderly couple filled the width of the sidewalk newly created. The only solution was to forge through a snowy barrier to resume the pace. Although this action didn't happen until some time had passed, it seems the freezing cold puts my thoughts on ice also.


I was told by a real Quebecois, "The idea is to look like you're not cold, just like you're walking on a beach."


To which I replied, "I only act when I get paid for it."


I think the key for this little Auzzie to survive the Kingdom of Ice, is to find a hole in a tree, tuck myself in all cozy and wait out the winter. Unfortunately I'm not a squirrel though, so to flourish like a true Quebecois I must walk in the foot prints made by others while looking like I'm doing a folk dance, eat every hour to fuel the goosebumps and wear sturdy boots and a jacket that isn't too short in the arms. I'm yet to fix those ones...


My shoulders have already began to feel like they are permanently glued to my ears and due to my fixation towards the ground, in the event of shielding my lower face from ripping off, I am creating a rather nice hump in my upper back. A somewhat attractive and relaxed posture, wouldn't you say?


The saving grace to a Canadian winter is being active when there's light and drinking a little something to provoke the cockles of my heart to work properly. And of course, writing to you lovely people...


Now to make pie!