When I was 15, we moved from rural Manitoba to coastal British Columbia. That was an exciting time! We heard that it didn't even get cold enough for skating in winter in BC. I couldn't even imagine what that would be like. I was thrilled to have a chance to experience something most of my friends couldn't imagine. In our first winter in BC, I kept sending my Manitoba friends pictures of our roses which kept blooming and blooming and blooming. I think we had roses until December.
There were so many things I loved about BC. The stuff we could grow! How green it was! The short winters. The towering mountains and the nearby ocean. How green it was! Oh yea, that green... Well, that brings me to the hardest thing about our move. The rain. It rained in the summer. It rained in the fall. And it rained in winter. We used to joke that it rained until February and then we got the rainy season.
It didn't rain
all the time. We enjoyed sunshine as well. But it did rain a lot, and I remember occasionally not seeing sun for a month at a time. It was depressing sometimes. I was ALWAYS cold. In Manitoba you added another layer and warmed up. That didn't work as well in BC. The cold seemed to go right through you.
I suspect my Manitoba friends were somewhat jealous of our move (and I certainly encouraged that). And our new friends in BC reminded us regularly that we were now in "God's Country". We put up with their jokes about being able to see right across Manitoba if it weren't for the one tree in the way. We were used to calling the bush around us 'bush' and endured much ridicule for that. In BC, there is no bush. There is forest. Everyone considered us fortunate for having escaped Manitoba to live in BC.
Fast forward to 1991. We had a chance to move to Alberta, and given the economy and the fact that my husband didn't expect the company he worked for to be around long, and we took the opportunity. This time we were teased about moving to "Cowtown" and warned about the horrible winters we would have to endure. Many Albertans seemed totally shocked that we would move to Alberta from coastal BC. What were we thinking!!
We discovered, though, that moving from "God's Country" wasn't all bad. The sun shone in Alberta. We had sun every season. We had long evenings in the summer that could be spent outside - the light disappeared fast in our town in BC because of the mountains surrounding us. Now, in Alberta, we were still only an hour from the mountains and awesome hiking. Winters were often mild, and if we got too much snow, we seemed to only have to wait a bit for a warm chinook wind to come and melt all our snow. Seasons were a bit more distinct and I liked that. The weather was much drier, and what I liked most about that, was that I finally wasn't cold all the time.
The dryness meant, though, that I needed to have hand lotion in several spots in the house, and carry chapstick as well. Chinooks were wonderful in many ways, but sometimes it was brown in Calgary much of the winter because there was no snow, but not enough warmth for anything to grow. Spring would be very green but then summer could also be dry and brown. The mountains to the west of Calgary that allowed for chinook winds to warm the air in winter, also sometimes caused weird summer weather. We often had a blizzard on the long weekend in May, or even sometimes the first weekend in June. I remember being told that Alberta weather is very changeable, and it was possible to have all four seasons in one day. That was proven true our first year there. But we found much to love about living in Alberta.
Two years ago, we were given an opportunity to move back to my home province: Manitoba. Everyone knew we'd hate it. Manitoba was too cold in winter, too hot in summer, and had too many mosquitos. Even Manitobans seemed to have that mentality. It really baffled me. We have found Manitoba to have many things going for it. Distinct seasons. Yes! I love this about Manitoba. When it's winter, expect it to be cold, and bundle up. There are not that many days that are unbearable outdoors, if you dress for the weather. After winter comes spring. And once spring arrives, you know that summer isn't far behind. Many Manitobans don't believe my stories about snow in May & June in Calgary. Because they've been told that nothing is as cold as Manitoba winters. Summers here have been beautiful for the past two years. We use our deck a lot, and live more outdoors here, than anywhere else we have lived.
A lunch spot we found today for our lunch picnic. One of two rivers that runs through Winnipeg. There are many river walks in Winnipeg, and parks along the rivers.
Each place has it's own charm and beauty, as well as some downsides. Just recently I read in a Manitoba publication that a certain camp was on a spot so beautiful that it didn't seem like Manitoba. What kind of a statement is that? No, we don't have BC's mountains or majestic forests. But Winnipeg has the most beautiful tree-lined streets, and we have beautiful rivers and lakes. We have sunshine, and can grow things that cannot be grown in Calgary because of their erratic weather. We need to stop apologizing and start seeing the beauty around us!!
At our kids cottage near Arnes in the Interlake Region of Manitoba. Loving the outdoor life...
At the beach... the water is shallow enough for my 2-year-old granddaughter to be able to stand up herself way out there...
The marina near the cottage. Just a few glimpses of this beautiful province.
