the official grace & cello blog

so canada disappointed yet again at bali. inspired by the united states, the harper government is working diligently at thwarting any efforts aimed at managing for climate change. simply put, the harper government is more interested in short term profits then long-term sustainability.

so interesting that the bali conference comes just at the time that eastern canada is experiencing one of the most beautiful winters in recent memory. many of us had between 40-50 cm of snow yesterday, and so everything in this part of the country seems to harken back to the good ol’ days when everyone played hockey on outdoor rinks, when people bundled up to spend evenings outdoors, and when snowed piled as high as your head was a regular occurrence.

as i was walking down some of the most beautiful wintery street scenes you could imagine — with the roads full of walkers and cars, and the sidewalks overrun by 8 foot tall mounds of snow, like some sort of invasion of snowfort sentinels — i thought about how canadian winters are likely to be a thing of the past in the next few decades, and how the passing of such a neat way of living was something to be missed certainly.

don’t get me wrong, winter isn’t always fun. but, there is something so incredibly unique about life when it exists in a deep freeze. the communities, people and stories that emerged out of that harshness and cold are as beautifully impressive as the birds and little critters that managed to adapt to that harshness and cold. i mean, c’mon … when canadian winters no more freeze our little noses off, we’ll have lost something as precious as the most cold adapted bird on the planet … (the common redpoll):

i know there are many who think that canada without snow might be a nice change from all the challenges that come with the white stuff, but walking around our wintery streets lately (a type of winter that we haven’t seen in what seems like a long time) reminds me of how much beauty there is in a cold-adapted life.

anyway, as a quick hopeful note … seems that harper’s government has mis-managed somewhere as of late. they have lost their important lead on the liberals, and quebec seems less enamoured … could it be that their pitiful performance at bali was a bit like shooting themselves in their feet?