The Changing Seasons – Not in Barbados

My sister once asked me if her weather app was working properly.  Each time she looked up Barbados it said the same thing – high of 28, low of 25.

People ask me if I miss the seasons.  Never!

Summer was always my happy time.  I would attempt to fit an entire year of summer fun into the months of July and August.  Labor Day weekend came in September, and I would be exhausted and depressed knowing the cold was coming.  My acupuncturist says that people who “run hot” suffer in Barbados.  I run cold, and “suffer” is an apt description of how I felt in the Canadian winter.

My recent trip to Ontario for my aunt’s Celebration of Life coincided with March Break.  The weather can go either way during this time of year.  I remember March Breaks when we could wear a T-shirt and shorts.  This year it went the other way.  The day after I flew in, there was heavy snow.  The weekend before I left there were evenings of -7, feels like -14.

Check out this video of the cleanup after the snowstorm.  My uncle’s neighbor came over with his snowblower to help.  That’s what neighbors do in Canada – especially those that love to use their machinery at every opportunity.

I didn’t find the winter weather all that bad, as long as I stayed inside.  Walking around Toronto for the weekend was tough going, with the wind ripping down between the tall buildings.  The problem is, I have become accustomed to an outdoor lifestyle.

For those of you who have landed in the Caribbean, you know the feeling of walking down the steps of the airplane onto the tarmac.  To me, this is the epitome of living here -walking through the door and the warm wind hitting me.  I raise my face to the sun and think, I am home.  Two hours later my surfboard was loaded in my car, and I was on my way to the beach for a sunset surf.

What I miss about Canada has nothing to do with the weather.  It was lovely hanging out with my Uncle Ken.  We bundled up and kept inside but ate lots of cheese and crackers and everything else he pulled out of his stocked freezer.  Heather came for an evening of fall-off-the-bone ribs.  My cousin is a chiropractor and adjusted me [you are a lifesaver Shawna.]  I met friends in Toronto – Vanessa finally did my birth chart and Donough brought me a big green hat for St. Patrick’s Day.  I had shopping experiences that involved finding what I needed [Thank you IKEA and Canadian Tire] and having helpful service in the shops.  Special shoutout to Taylor at La Vie en Rose on Pinebush Road in Cambridge.  When I thanked her, she said “I am just doing my job.”  But she does it so well, and I walked out with a year’s supply of underwear and bikinis.

Where I live has gotten quiet again.  The North Americans and Brits have gone home as winter has technically ended.  As Ontario tries desperately to honor the beginning of spring this week, I slipped into my bikini and summer weather routine in Barbados.  A lifestyle that I will enjoy until August, when I plan to travel and avoid the hottest of the Bajan months.  No matter where you live, there always seems to be a season best avoided.  I am lucky that in Barbados the summer season is perpetual – my happy place.