In Conversation at the mailbox

Though the day is hardly over, I thought I would write about this tiny Perfect Moment in this post. I haven’t written as much as I would like, and I should keep those muscles working.

Since late last night, the snow has been falling steadily. On the radio, they referred to it as a “winter wonderland”, and to be fair, they were right. It was beautiful and anticipates Christmas so well. From my home office virtual classroom hub I could peer out the window and alternate between wondering if I should go out and shovel or whether it would melt. For the record, I shoveled, the remainder melted, and now it has started again. At least the sidewalks are clear……for now.

I went out to the mailbox, having skipped yesterday for some reason. I hit the combination jackpot with a magazine, an early Christmas card, a bill, and some junk mail. The only way the world could have gotten any brighter would have been to receive some stamps for my collection. Since I hadn’t ordered any, that was unlikely to be the case.

As I crossed the street in search of the box, with my head down bracing against the cooler temperatures–I should let you know that I was rather improperly dressed. I hadn’t even put socks on before jamming my feet into a pair of ratty gym. I had on my fleece, so I wasn’t too cold—I heard someone shout my name.

In one of those rare instances, when things work exactly as they should, I identified the person by voice and was able to recall her name. This is quite the feat because the last ten times I have seen her, I could not drag her name from the recessed parts of my brain until we had finished talking. It was my neighbour (down the street neighbour) Nina. We had a pleasant, chat standing more than the advised two metres apart.

If you ask me which of these things was the Perfect Moment, and you don’t already know the answer, you should probably read more of my posts.

Respect

I write a lot about my students because they give me a lot of material to work with. As we finally embrace winter, the questions begin.

Is February warmer than now?

                                                 How long does winter last?

Is Montreal warmer than Toronto?

                                               I heard it only rains in Vancouver.

What is wind chill

                                            Do you just stay inside in winter?

I suppose I shouldn’t mock the students too hard. My biggest wonder is why didn’t they Google these things before they got here?  I am pretty sure the information is available.

Yesterday, the weather was a warm 6 degrees and sunny. The snow from the previous day had already melted and the wet reflections on the street were beautiful.  Unfortunately, I had to work and even my break was full of other duties.  I had no time to go outside and enjoy it.  I did note, however, that some of my students were wearing boots more suited to snow-maggedon than yesterday’s balmy temperatures.

So what was Friday’s Perfect Moment?  Quite simply, my appreciation of their respect for winter.

Having to Wear Boots

I wanted to write that it seems pretty early in the season to be wearing boots, but in fact, it seems like the wrong season to be wearing boots. If I am not mistaken, it is still autumn.  Since autumn is my favourite season, I am a little sad that it is being usurped by winter this year.

Normally an early snowfall like this would disappear, but it has managed to linger, perhaps promising better skiing and hopefully the chance to put on ice skates this year. If you find it odd that I am choosing to look on the bright (though there is so precious little daylight these days) side of things, perhaps you have forgotten the title of the blog.

A Note for my friend Quinn.  The tree growing in the tight space beside the bus shelter continues to thrive.

Inappropriate Coincidence

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Currently, I have only one Brazilian student, which is rare at my school.  She lamented to me yesterday that she really wanted to wear her flip-flops, which are the typical footwear of Brazilians.  She seemed rather pained to have to wear boots.  The weather has been colder than usual, but even if things were “normal” it would still be too cold to wear flip-flops…..or so I thought.

This belief is at the heart of Today’s Perfect Moment.  As I approached the bus stop this morning, I spotted a figure crossing the street and seemingly headed for the same place I was.  As I got closer, I discerned that it was a woman.  I watched her clutching her parka around her body and felt a bit of sympathy as she trudged toward the gas station rather than the bus stop.  It snowed today, and the temperature was below zero.

Upon second look, I was shocked to discover that she was wearing those very flip-flops that my student wishes she could wear, but because of the weather has declined to do so.  As an adult, I can’t but help to think that this was the dumbest thing I have ever seen.  I mean, this isn’t a case of freezing for fashion.  These weren’t high-end, designer flip-flops.  I would hate for her to lose a digit to frostbite.

As a blogger, could probably look at this another way.  It has provided an interesting thing to write about.  And, thanks to an odd coincidence of topic, definitely deserves to be Today’s Perfect Moment.  However, the blogger in me thinks this is the stupidest thing I have ever seen–well maybe that guy marrying the hologram is the stupidest, but I didn’t actually see that.

Duh!

So, in preparation Pho my trip, I went out in search of sandals. I did my research, made a plan of action, and came up empty.  The salesperson looked at me (and though he didn’t say it, probably uttered a big Duh!?! in his head) and explained that they didn’t carry sandals in the winter.  They would be getting them for spring.

 Of course, it is winter in Canada and the only people who need sandals are going to be leaving the country for somewhere warm, which by anecdotal evidence is pretty much everyone I know who isn’t going skiing instead.  I guess they want us to be at the mercy of airport shops–because those prices are reasonable.

If a sarcasm font existed, I could probably make profound use out of it right now.

Despite being unable to succeed in my quest, I did manage to go to Priest Burger for the first time. That was pretty delicious.  Saved the day really.