When I touched down in Edmonton, man it was cold. I didn’t even step outside yet. I’m just talking about the airport which was freezing. People seem to have a much lower temperature preference in Eddy and I wasn’t used to it at all. That really sucked for me because I prefer a warmer-than-average room temperature than the average person. My lower threshold of comfort is 24, 25 degrees while everyone else seems to prefer 19, 20. People must be so accustomed to the cold there.
Before taking off, the captain had announced that while the temperature was 27 degrees in Toronto that it was -1 in Edmonton. I didn’t figure it would be so much colder so I didn’t pack any jackets, just a bunch of sweaters. And I think I psyched myself a little bit because the first thing I did was go buy myself a Canada Goose jacket. I got the Trillium Parka in Army Green. It was definitely an impulse buy but it was totally worth it. I mean, they have the lowest tax rate in Canada, my current Canada Goose jacket at the time, the Kensington, wasn’t keeping me warm enough and I was looking for a jacket in army green anyways. It was cute! Plus, I felt a lot better — warm and toasty after having it on.
I was wearing my snazzy jacket everywhere only to get bombarded with the same question: “Why are you wearing jacket?” Cause it’s fucking cold that’s why. I was the butt of the joke when all I wanted to do is not be cold. People were telling me that it was actually very nice weather that week. It’s autumn season and it was fluctuating between 0~5 degrees which is very much jacket weather to me but many people there were wearing tees like it was summer. To them, bad weather is when it’s -30 and apparently that’s becoming the norm in the last few years.
I had a few chats with some friends and other Edmontonians and many of them told me they’ve have never actually had a snow day in their lives. There has never been enough snow or a cold enough day for them to cancel school or work. What? I think every school-kid’s favourite day in a Toronto winter is a snow day and I remember having several in my life. One guy, a friend from Calgary, just a few hours south of Edmonton, didn’t even know what a snow day was.
“People are telling me here that they’ve never had a snow day.”
“What’s that?”
“Where there’s so much snow or it’s so cold they have to cancel school”.
*laughter* “No, that doesn’t happen”.
What? Apparently the most that an Edmonton kid got was that they might of cancelled outdoor recess and held recess indoors instead. Holy.
Fortunately it was 24 degrees on Monday so I took advantage of it and went on a run. The leaves were just starting to change colours and it was beautiful as hell. Edmonton has an abnormally high number of stroller-mom runners which was strange.
I’m writing from Tampa and I’ve been stuck indoors and been freezing because of the AC. That’s why I’m a little bitter about the Edmonton and the cold in general. I can’t wait to get out and into the heat for either a run or a bike ride in the humid heat….