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Winter Smarts

Developing your own winter smarts is essential for happy winter living. People living in a cold and snowy climate are a hardy bunch.

They have to be!

You can be too... with a little help.

Life in winter gets lived regardless of what the winter weather forecast is saying. You just have to get on with it and make the most of it. The winter season happens every year - no matter what! If you wait for good weather, you'll be like bears that hibernate every year and miss out on a lot of enjoyable things and activities.

Life is already too short as it is, don't you think?

Now that you've chosen to live here, adapting to winter living is just a fact of life. Knowing the how, why, when and what to winterize is key to great winter living.

The sooner you develop some good winter 'smarts' and a great 'winter' attitude, before you know it, the winter will be over for another year and you'll wonder where the winter 'went'.

Then you can then look forward to spring, summer and fall - again. The changing of the seasons here in Canada is something special I think. Each season marks its own passage and the transition from one to the next is pretty amazing in how different they all are. The most dramatic is winter of course.

Talking about the weather is something that's near and dear to everyone here for lots of reasons. You'll never be stuck for conversation as the snowy weather, cold temperatures or the latest blizzard are always good topics to start with - no matter where you are.

Everyone has an opinion on it!

Why winterize?

Being warm and comfortable is critical in a cold climate but there are other factors you also need to consider as well.

What to winterize?

Winter affects everything for months on end. Getting ready means developing a winter 'to do' checklist that suits your circumstances. Here are the most common things that you need to think about and most likely do too.

When to winterize?

The right answer is in the non-winter months of course. Starting soon after the last snowfall up until the first snowfall of the next winter gives you plenty of time to schedule house and home maintenance tasks for example.

Winter Know how

There are heaps of questions you can and need to ask about how to cope with winter living. Here are some winter tips and strategies to keep you thinking about how best to prepare and improve your winter smarts.

Getting winter orientated

Getting winter orientated for the type of winter climate you live in is key. The winter climate can vary quite dramatically but the basic facts of being winter-aware remain the same.

Enjoy the winter

Why not? It happens every year so developing a good winter smart strategy to get the most out of your winter season makes complete and utter sense. We all claim time speeds up anyway so the cold months will pass quickly enough.

My first winter experience

My own first winter week was full of new experiences like learning to downhill ski, driving in a snowstorm and walking in snow and ice. It also included lots of great fun, sore muscles and some hairy driving moments. Here's what happened....

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