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How appropriate that the day I write my first December entry is also the first day that it seriously snows here. The weather has toyed with the possibility of snowing a few times now. Those of you from snowy winter climates know how it goes--it snows lightly but nothing ever sticks. Then one day you wake up, you look out the window and "shit", there's white stuff covering the ground and it's not melting away. Maybe YOU wake up and throw your arms into the air, squealing with glee. Just remember that for every cheer of joy, there's an equal number of people, if not MANY more, who are miserable. Feeling guilty yet? Now you know my pain.
I wake up and cry. Not real tears. Just an inner sadness. It's winter now and that means there's no turning back. There may be the occasional second-coming-of-christ-type-apocalyptic-crazy day where the weather is frighteningly warm and everyone knows it's global warming, yet for a few brief hours they actually think global warming may be a good thing because they want spring so bad. Those days do seem to be increasing, and coming earlier and earlier as the years go by. On the last day of February 1991 I wore shorts and sandals it was so warm. As I was saying, minus those few exceptions, winter is here and it's not going away for several more months.
I remember two years ago when we went on a spure-of-the-moment trip to Mexico to get out of the country during Xmas mayhem. After a week of literally blistering up in the hot southern sun, we came back during the New Year's countdown (we literally did the countdown on the YYZ airport runway) to minus some ungodly temperature weather. Days later we were all snowed in and the City had to call in the bison from the military to plow the streets of Toronto. Years ago, in the early 80's, I remember our back sliding door was actually almost covered in snow. We pushed our way through the front door and then shovelled the back door out.
These stories may seem like precious reminders of fun times living in a Northern climate. To me they are horror stories foreshadowing this year's possible winter catastrophes. I'm just not a cold weather person. I can't be happy living in a climate that is warm, humid and almost too hot during the summer, beautiful and moderately crisp during the fall, and cold, dry, grey and miserable during the winter. Mind you this area is zone 5 and not nearly as cold as people in the States think. Sadly there are people who think all of Canada is carpeted in permafrost and that we don't have colour television. I'd like to join my friend spiralgirl who moved down to Northern California some years ago. Living by the Ocean is my childhood dream.
As a result of this season change my plant-related activities have narrowed down to few. I water the plants regularly, pick off a dead leaf or two, and worry about my bonsai which doesn't always get enough light and hates the dry winter air.
 Recently I saw a magazine article about a guy in Southern California who has a beautiful collection of epiphytic orchids in his backyard. The more tillandsia I acquire and the more I read about epiphytes in general, the more I love them. On our last trip to Mexico last Easter we saw billions of tillandsia and bromeliads growing in trees as we drove through the mountains on the bus towards the coast. I was literally jumping out of my seat with excitment. Taking into account my increasing love for tillandsia and epiphytes and my overall love for cacti and succulents, it seems only evident once again, that I really need to move to a warmer climate.
What's your favourite plant?
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