Some friends of ours who still live in Tay Creek, New Brunswick sent us this picture.
It is the small outpost of the United Church of Canada in Tay Creek. It is probably in one of the coldest spots in one of the colder areas on the east coast.
As you see from the Google map link, it is north of Fredericton which is the capital of New Brunswick, the Canadian province which adjoins Maine.
Tay Creek is uphill substantially from Fredericton so we often saw temperatures of four to eight degrees Fahrenheit colder in the winter. I say that because Fredericton will have a low temperature of -6F tonight. I would guess Tay Creek will hit -10F or colder tonight.
Actually that is not very cold by Tay Creek standards. Our youngest daughter was born in January when the temperature hit minus 40.
The interesting thing is that the snow you have in Canada in January and February is not like the snow that you see in Roanoke in those rare moments that snow does grace the valley.
Tay Creek snow actually makes a crunching sound when you walk on it. It can be fairly hard. That is especially true if the wind has blown it or if it has been packed by moving it around. You can easily cut it into blocks.
The scene at the church is very familiar to me. I can feel the cold and the wind. Our church was on the top of the hill. I am pretty sure there was nothing between it and the arctic except a few scraggly spruce trees.
It was one of the few places you might want to actually get into a grave. When we were digging a grave which we did anytime someone died, it could be a mighty cold spot. Sometimes we would have to build a fire in the bottom of the grave to keep the walls from freezing solid before we could get them squared off. At least when you were in the grave the wind didn't hit you.
In Virginia most of our snow is slick and icy. The snow in this picture has great traction.
Still the cold temperatures are not something I want to revisit. I enjoy the warm of the coast. Even snow-less Roanoke seems cold.
Canadians actually believe that snow on the ground makes your houses warmer. When we lived in Nova Scotia people would throw boughs of spruce along their foundations in hopes of catching snow to seal the cracks.
