The Canada I miss: March 2008

Canada does a pretty good job of minding its own business. I do not think we can blame any recent invasions on the Canadian Forces.

However, we can lay the blame for the cold nasty weather that we are receiving squarely on the shoulders of Canada.

One way or the other Canada is responsible for this cold. Either it was a blast of cold air coming out of Canada that caused New England to be buried under snow which super cools our air, or we are being freeze dried by winds whipping across Canada where there is almost no snow free land.

It does not matter, it is time this nonsense is over. This is the end of March, it when the weather turns good in the South.

All week we have had windy weather. This weekend as the winds have come from the north, they have turned nasty. Just how screwed up is it when a place in New Jersey had the warmest temperature we can find.

It must be from some chemical reaction. While I think Canada is a great place, there is no description that fits about nine months of the weather but the word lousy.

When we lived in Halifax, NS, I can remember attending soccer matches in July while I was wearing a down parka.

Frozen into my memory is an early season snow storm that took out our power in early September one year.

Now the west can certainly get by without some of this, but who in the right mind would enjoy the last day in March with the temperature being 19 degrees Fahrenheit. That is cruel and unusual punishment and no amount of indoor malls will cure that.

It is obvious that our spring warmth is being delayed by the Canadian snow pack so all I can say is snap to it, it is time to have a countrywide political debate so that some hot air can start working on those frozen fields of snow.

I am ready for spring. Canadians should at least be ready to see the ground for the first time since fall.

We have strawberries that are ripening and tomatoes to plant. Surely it is time to let your snow go this year even if you all haven't set snowfall records like Caribou, Maine.

While this picture was taken in North Carolina looking across Bogue Sound near the Emerald Isle beaches, it reminds me of Canada.

Perhaps it is a lingering memory of those first years when I lived on the shore of Nova Scotia and looked across the Bay of Fundy as the sun melted into New Brunswick.

I traveled all across Canada during the seventies, eighties, and nineties. I lived in Canada from 1971 until the summer of 1987. It was a wonderful time.

We moved back to the states because we missed our families and wanted our kids to have a taste of life near an extended family. I guess it worked, but there is still something that I miss about Canada.

That is not to say that Canada is perfect, but it is a wonderful place with some special grace and beauty.

Part of it comes from the people and the unique mix that is Canada. Of course the other piece of it is the beauty of the Canadian landscape.

I have fought the black flies in New Brunswick, walked the barrens of Newfoundland, and had my ankles sandblasted on the beaches of Prince Edward Island. Still the Canadian west has always been special to me.

It was the first part Canada that I ever visited. I will never forget being amazed at the Grand Tetons in Wyoming only to realize that Canada seemed to have hundreds of miles of Tetons.

I have read a few Canadian real estate blog posts. Most recently I have started watching the Calgary Real Estate Market Blog.

Calgary was also the first Canadian city that I visited long ago in 1969. I think my most recent visit was in the late nineties.

Western Canada has obviously been through some boom times. I find the debate on affordable housing in Calgary very interesting.

While I have not followed Canadian economic news closely, I do get the impression that Alberta is one of the bright spots in the North American economy.

I know that water issues probably temper this a little, but I suspect most US states would trade places with Alberta in a heartbeat.

We have the reverse situation along the Southern Outer Banks in North Carolina. We have what I consider as very affordable housing. I can find someone a relatively new home with two or three bedrooms just a few miles from the beaches for under $180K US. There are many reasonably priced homes in our area which you can see if you wander through my monthly selections.

Of course prices go up from there. The supply of homes is not a problem either. We have more homes than we have people who want them. Part of the reason for this is a shortage of jobs in the area. The other is the US economy.

While most retirees in the US are now re-evaluating their options in what many consider a deteriorating economy, anyone living in Alberta might be facing a different future.

I still remember all the arguments about resource based economies from when I lived in Canada. In the end, being on top of a bunch of natural resources seems to have worked out fine for Alberta.

I am hoping to use this blog to explore my thoughts on Canada and why I miss it. I am not sure if it is the people or the place that I miss. Maybe I miss Canadian politics because in spite of its faults few countries are likely to be invaded by Canada.

Canada is still an important part of my life. I think living in Canada gave me a world view which is atypical of most Americans. Yet I do not miss the cold weather and all the darkness.

Living on the Carolina coast is living in a world of sunshine, water, and warmth. It is what I want at this stage in my life. I am actually surprised we do not have more Canadians here on the North Carolina coast. I put my reasons for being here in a post about Carteret County which is a very unique county along the NC coast.

It is 61 degrees Fahrenheit here this evening at 10:30 pm. That is approximately 16 degrees Celsius.

When you look at our forecast for tomorrow, our low temperature will be 13 degrees Celsius or 56 degrees Fahrenheit. I almost hate to mention tomorrow's high temperature of 23 degrees Celsius or 74 degrees Fahrenheit.

We are on different planets than Canada when it comes to weather especially if I look at Edmonton or Calgary where the highs are going to have a hard time getting out of the thirties and forties over the next few days.

I am sympathetic, but I still will likely be wearing shorts tomorrow and I might even take our boat out for a spin in the afternoon.

I look forward to thinking about Canada on a more regular basis over the next few months.