Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Dispatch from Banff III

Last night the temperate increased by several degrees after days and weeks of temperatures sitting closer to minus twenty. I think I nearly suffocated in my bed last night, as the thermostat was set rather high, and when the outside temperatures went up, the heater started working.

The weather in this part of the world can change quite radically, especially if the Chinook winds come. I have heard that in Pincher Creek, Alberta, the temperature can go from minus-thirty to plus-ten degrees in under an hour. I can’t imagine what that would be like.

I read that the Chinook winds come from the warm ocean air from the Pacific Northwest. I find it almost poetic to think of how the winds traverse the mountains, to bring warm reminders of home.

I miss home. In my garden, spring has begun. The snowdrops are finished and the crocuses are nearly done too. The daffodils are getting ready to bloom. The garden needs manure, and the raspberry canes need to be pruned. Last year, I ate my first asparagus from the garden on April 5th.

It is hard to imagine spring will come to Banff. There are huge piles of snow everywhere and no sign that winter will ever end.

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