"Such is human psychology that if we don't express our joy, we soon cease to feel it." - Lin Yutang

I'm in Seattle and for a few brief days do not have to wade through snowdrifts or slush puddles. Toronto's winter weather is one of the things Torontonians pretend to ignore. We conveniently forget about the lakes of dirty water that form on our corners and are sprayed across unfortunate pedestrians by speeding SUV's. We choose not to remember the bitter winds that blow through the office tower canyons and chill us to the bone. Instead, people like me who work in the downtown core ramble on about the virtues of the PATH system and its victory over blizzards and squalls. Friends from the suburbs have long learned to drive carefully on snow, and since the brave souls of the city road crews work around the clock while the white stuff is falling, the streets are usually cleared, salted and navigable.

So it's a bit of a shock to the system to get off the airplane and suddenly not have to pretend that the ground isn't covered in ice. Gloomy clouds and rain showers Seattle may have, but walking around is fundamentally easier here than it is in Toronto at the moment. So for the next three days until I return home, I'm going walking.


posted by Tom at 8:20 PM | link |