Wander & Wonder

Winter in Montreal is something else. As I walked Ghost, in the middle of a blizzard with heavy winds and a “feels like -15” temperature, I watched parents pulling their bundled-up toddlers in sleds and several determined dog walkers trudging through the snow, their scarves whipping in the wind while their dogs happily bounded beside them. Later at swim practice, I expected the pool to be empty, but it was packed—so many people chose to swim despite the darkness, freezing cold, and snow piling up outside. Afterward, I thought for sure the weather would incite complaints, but instead, swimmers cheerfully scraped ice off their cars, chatting as if it were just another ordinary part of their day. Maybe it’s the familiarity of growing up here, but I think it’s more than that—it’s pure resilience. So I’ll revise my original thought: Winter in Montreal is something else, but it’s the people who are truly something else. And, I guess, without even realizing it before now, it seems like I’ve become one of those people too 🙂