I shared a picture of my mother and me walking our dogs in a snow storm the other day and a friend commented, “You love winter so much lol.” (Okay, it wasn’t just any friend. It was one you know, the blog’s Cate.)
I’d also been sharing pictures of me riding to work in the snow.
And this week, I’ve been snowshoeing and winter hot tubbing.
The thing is I don’t think of myself as someone who loves winter. Last year I was happy to skip it entirely and spend the coldest, snowiest two months in New Zealand.
And yet, there are some things about our winter weather that definitely make me smile.
😊 I love clear sunny days with blue skies and bright white snow.
😊 I love how the cold encourages movement. There’s no temptation to stand around. I once complained about being cold riding to work and one of the very serious cyclists in my department said I wasn’t working hard enough. I couldn’t believe he said that, and yet now, I think about how right he is. Winter exercise is all about move it, move it!
😊 Increasingly, it’s our summer weather that scares me. It’s often too hot to ride bikes and we have hot, humid stretches that just aren’t suiatble for very much in the way of outdoor exercise. Swimming yes, but cycling now. Add to that smoke from the now common forest fires north and west of us, and summer no longer feels like the favorite season I used to know and love.
😊 I think myself as someone who is not that body conscious and who doesn’t worry too much about the way I look, and yet winter layers for outdoor exercise are cosy and comforting.
😊 Cold weather exercise in the snow also appeals to the Canadian in me. Snow shoeing is part of our national identity. I feel very Canadian outside in the snow and I like that.
This year is the first Christmas of being empty nesters. Our youngest is in British Columbia. Our eldest is over for a couple days. His beloved is on military deployment. So it’s just the 3 of us and we are finding new traditions.
Last night we had Tortiére, a savory meat pie, mashed potatoes and green beans. We made homemade apple fritters in the air fryer. Not too shabby. It’s a nod to the French Canadian tradition of Réveillon, celebrating the start of the holidays with food and family.
Today we are having turkey, wild rice & apricot stuffing, sweet potato casserole, bronzed onions and cranberry sauce.
If we get real ambitious we will make Cracker Candy. It’s a quick and easy dessert where the butter and sugar candy is poured over saltines and topped with chocolate and pecans.
One thing that is definitely on our agenda is giving Lucy and ourselves a good walk.
Our neighbourhood is quiet with students gone home for the holidays and many people traveling. It’s like we have the city to ourselves. I enjoy the peaceful, unhurried way everyone is going about the day.
Lucy the dog sits patiently by the door waiting for a walk.
As part of doing things differently this year there’s no alcohol involved. In previous years we’d have wine with meals and cocktails in the evenings. I’m surprised that I’m not missing it.
We’ve scaled way back on gifts as we are investing in house renovations next month. It’s a big change but one that feels good and aligned with what we really want.
Snowy walks are better in Santa hats. Nat and Michel smile while dressed in warm jackets covered in snow.
If where you are has today as a holiday I hope you are getting the day you need. I hope it includes the perfect balance of fitness, family and fun.
You read the story in Canadian Cycling here. Here’s the short version, “Cyclists in Guelph, Ont. are bracing for a slippery winter after the city council approved a budget that removes winter maintenance from on-street, raised and protected bike lanes. Multi-use paths will still be plowed, but only to sidewalk standards. The decision, passed 7-6 at a special council meeting on Nov. 26, means all painted bike lanes, curb-protected lanes and boulevard cycle tracks will be closed each winter via bylaw, with no snow or ice clearing until spring. Signs will be posted to alert the public.”
Tonight I’ll be joining some other winter cyclists in the city on a protest ride. I don’t like winter riding in the dark so much, but don’t worry I’ll have all my lights on.
Here’s my happy winter bike commuting face, and my bike!
I was shoveling my driveway on Wednesday. It was after my morning walk with Michel, my immortal beloved, and Lucy, hellhound, when I had a slip and fall.
It was sudden. I was upright shoveling and then on the ground. I’m sure I yelled.
I landed on my right hip and shoulder. Imagine a panda bear rolling around, that was me.
I got up, dusted off my pants and headed inside. I was embarrassed and mad. There was ice from the previous day under the fresh powder. A classic formula for slipping.
It’s been a few days. I’m sore but nothing serious. My socials have photos of friends with broken arms or other tales. One involved a brain bleed. They are recovering. But. Wow. Falling is not nothing.
I’ve been working on my balance. It involves deliberately using my peripheral vision, core strength and practicing my balance in a variety of settings. It’s really helped.
But it is icy and I’m out in it, biking and walking.
A friend offered her strategies for avoiding falling. We know these things well.
The penguin shuffle, where you are slightly forward and take small steps.
Wearing grippy footwear and adding crampons (little spiked overshoes).
I occasionally break out my hiking poles.
Strength and flexibility should help me stay relatively injury free. I credit learning barrel rolls in roller derby to my good outcome.
If you go down like a rodeo clown rolling helps disperse the energy.
Here’s to staying Rollie Ollie this winter!
A penguin being very skilled at walking in slippery conditions.
If you’re in Ontario, and a cyclist, you’re aware of our provincial government’s war on bike lanes.
First, the Ford government passed a bill that gave the province sweeping control over municipal bike lanes. It was called Bill 212, Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, 2024.
An Ontario court ruled the government’s plan to remove protected bike lanes on Bloor Street, University Avenue, and Yonge Street in Toronto was unconstitutional. The court found the province’s plan to remove bike lanes would “put people at increased risk of harm and death, which engages the right to life and security of the person.” The province is appealing this ruling.
To top it off, the City of Guelph is now considering a 2026 budget that proposes cuts to active transportation, cycling, and trail projects, including the elimination of winter bike lane snow removal. See the Guelph Coalition for Active Transportation Call to Action here.
Many people normally commute by bike to school or work. However, they stop riding in November when snow and ice threaten. These days though, e-bike purchases are on the rise and winter is getting warmer. I think many people would keep riding if the conditions were right.
Some conditions are within our control. Nat and I have both bought winter bike tires. But other conditions–like safe bike lanes clear of snow– are a collective matter.
Sometimes you get to choose how you’ll exercise on a given day and other times your decision is made for you.
Today, after 38cm of snow arrived in blizzard conditions overnight, I had ‘snow’ other option – part of my exercise plan was definitely going to involve shoveling.
For the record, I didn’t have to shovel the whole driveway by myself – everyone chipped in to get it done.
Yes, I *do* still have holiday lights on my front steps. These things happen. Oh, and yeah, that’s a fair bit of snow down. Image description: a photo looking down my front steps and into my driveway. The snow completely covers the actual risers of my steps and it has drifted halfway up the doors of my grey Mazda 3 and is part way up the tires of my husband’s white truck. The pile of snow plowed into the end of my driveway is level with the truck’s taillights.
From a physical, exercise perspective, I don’t mind shoveling all that much (it’s not a party or anything but it’s not a bad way to get moving) but I do sometimes find it boring.
Usually I will listen to a podcast or something to keep my mind busy while my body works but today I wasn’t really in a podcast-y mood so I relied on my other tricks to make shoveling a little less dull.
These don’t exactly make it exciting but they do break up the monotony a little.
Here’s what I do:
1. Lift with my legs
Yes, that’s standard snow-shoveling advice but in this case I am reeeeeaaaaaalllllly concentrating on it. I am VERY focused on using my leg muscles, pushing down with my feet, drawing strength through my quads…you get the idea.
2. Count shovelfuls
This involves me trying to guess how many shovelfuls of snow are between me and some specific point. ‘I think it will take me 20 shovelfuls to clear my way to the tree.’ There’s no reward except for the fun of being right but it divides the work into a series of tasks instead of the all-or-nothing of the whole driveway.
3. Switch sides
Don’t worry, I’m not siding with evil here! I noticed years ago that, unless I pay attention, I default to shoveling in one particular way and throwing the snow to one particular side. (Perhaps everyone does this? I don’t know, I’ve only ever been me.)
This results in my muscles getting tired in uneven ways and it sometimes makes my back cranky.
So for part of my shoveling process, I will do ten shovelfuls with my right hand on the handle and my left hand closer to the scoop of the shovel, throwing to my right. Then I will move to another position and switch to my left hand on the handle, right hand near the scoop, and start throwing to the left for ten shovelfuls.
This makes me pay attention to which muscles I am using, helps keep me from pushing myself too hard in one direction, and it also helps to make the project feel more manageable.
*****
Even though I had ‘snow’ choice in the matter, as exercise goes, there’s a lot to be said for shoveling.
There’s an external motivator (for safety’s sake, you need at least a path to the street), it really works a lot of muscles, it gets me out into the fresh air, and there is actual tangible evidence of the work that I did.
Sure, it can be monotonous but I can counter that by either listening to a podcast or by working my way through the techniques described above.
Those practices even make the shoveling process a bit more mindful, which is never a bad thing.
I’m still glad that I don’t have to do the whole rigamarole every day though.
PS – Since I didn’t want to get out of my snow clothes while taking a shoveling break, I invited Khalee out in the back yard to goof around for a while. Check out this photo of her in full frolic mode:
Khalee did not get involved in the shoveling process but she *did* zoom around the yard at a ridiculous speed sending snow flying everywhere so her contribution to the process was making me laugh while I took a break. Image description: Khalee, a light-haired dog, zipping along in the deep snow in our yard. She is in the upper left part of the image and the rest of the shot is snow that has been churned up with footprints and her antics. She is mid-gallop here so her front paws are curled and her body is curved and we can mostly see the right side of her face. She looks like she is having fun.
Between December 1, 2024 and January 31, 2025, I has lots of fun writing 71 posts (and drawing 31 stars!) for Fit is a Feminist Issue. Just to do something different, today, I have decided to write very few words and to let some photos do the heavy lifting.
My knee has been giving me a little trouble, and Khalee’s ear has been a bit sore, and the weather has extremely cold, so we haven’t been out for a walk for a few days
But on Monday, it was time to get out and amble a bit even though it was still awfully cold.
A photo of a single birch tree with a few evergreens and deciduous trees a little distance away. The ground is snow-covered and there is a little bit of snow on the branches of the surrounding trees.
I think we both needed that time outside, walking on the path, checking out the snow and the trees, and just letting our minds wander, too.
A photo of a mostly snow-covered river with patches of tall, yellowed grass poking through the snow. There is a path on the left side of the river and there are evergreen trees on both sides.
Ok, maybe my mind was the only one wandering, I am pretty sure Khalee was VERY focused on sniffing every single thing she encountered.
Ok, she’s not actually sniffing anything here, it was a brief pause in her sniffvestigations. Image description: Khalee, a light brown dog in a green hoodie stands on a snowy path facing away from the camera.
Either way, it was good to be outdoors.
A snowy photo of a narrow river. There’s a wooden fence and tall yellow grass sticking out of the snow all the way along. A leafless tree is in the foreground on the right and there are evergreens in the distance. Khalee was just finished shaking her head when I snapped this, hence the strange look on her face. Image description: a photo of Khalee, a light brown dog in a green hoodie, standing on a snowy path. She is looking towards the camera and looks like she is a bit fed up with the viewer.This photo is really just to show off my hat that my beloved Mother-in-law made for me this year. Image description: a slightly smirky selfie of me (a middle aged white woman with a round face and light brown hair) I’m standing in front of my fence with a large leafless tree visible behind me. I’m wearing an off-white knitted toque with some bits of grey and gold in the mix, a dark green scarf and a black coat that is sprinkled with snow. My hat is pulled right down to my eyebrows and I look more than a little goofy…which tracks.
I had a hard time getting out of bed Monday morning. Winter weather. Less light. Cold room. Early hour. Big work week ahead. Feeling kind of stiff.
And one great reason to stay in bed: Warm blankets.
I put off rising by scrolling through a few photos from the weekend when my friend, Kimi (who recently travelled to Turkey), made us a great Turkish-style brunch with simple but fresh and delicious foods: simit (a sesame crusted bagel), menemen (an egg and tomato dish), clotted cream and honey, tahini and molasses, cheeses, fruits, Nutella, crusty bread, and Turkish tea. Easy to make, eat with your hands, and enjoy many cute little ramekin dishes! After our feast, she gave me some of our leftovers.
Turkish-style breakfast for two. All the cutlery was placed by me; turns out it was not needed because you are supposed to grab things with your hands or with the crusty bread.
In my bed nest, looking at the photos, I thought: I could make breakfast today. But I almost never make breakfast during the week, even when I work from home.
So that is what I decided to do. Instead of heading straight to my desk with a cup of black coffee sloshing in one hand and store-bought granola in another, I made myself leftover Turkish-style breakfast and a half carafe of tea. A decadent breakfast by my weekday standards.
A smaller but still exciting leftover Turkish-style breakfast for one. Notice the lack of unnecessary cutlery this time.
As I munched, I mused over how I have periodically tried to motivate myself to rise early with exercise: stretching, YouTube dancing, around the block walking. This time last year I was training for a Ho Ho Ho holiday run. But I haven’t loved AM exercise enough to stick with it; plus, for me PM exercise feels good for unwinding from the day.
While I have had many noble starts with early morning exercise, I could not remember the last time I got up early on a weekday intending to eat a great breakfast. But Turkish-style breakfast was awesome: I was fuelled all day (sustained by the caffeine infusion of clove tea).
A carafe of loose black tea in a small bell tea cup.
I share this story as an idea and as permission: if you wake up and you don’t feel motivated by what usually gets you out of bed…try making yourself an awesome and unexpected breakfast.
Toothbrushing, morning stretches, reaching out to a loved one, pet care, awesome breakfast: what gets you jumping out of bed in the morning to face the day?
It’s been an extremely warm fall and while I’ve enjoyed it, it’s also felt very climate-doomy. Now the warm weather is coming to an end and I’m thinking about winter riding.
I didn’t ever think I’d say this, but I miss the snow. ❄️
I’ve struggled to like winter for years. It wasn’t until I discovered running and cross country skiing and later, fat biking, that I came to enjoy winter. I needed to keep moving and stay warm. But those activities require snow, and we’re getting fewer and fewer snowy days.
Our Australian relatives visited over the Christmas holidays, hoping for snow, but we had to drive them far enough north to where they were making snow so we could go tubing.
I know that in the grand scheme of climate change and environmental disasters, my personally missing snow is small potatoes.
But still, I may need to find a new approach to winter physical and mental health.
Cross country skiing and fat biking friends, how are you coping?
