Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Winter...Not Winter

It's November in Nova Scotia. I put on the long pants today for the first time since late April...so the season's have officially changed. It is now Winter. Yesterday, while still in shorts...it was Not Winter...the other season that we get get to enjoy out here on the East Coast of Canada.

I wear shorts from Apr.23rd to Nov.02nd every year, and have been doing so for many years. My defense for this lack of flexibility? As a long-time runner, hiker, camper, bike commuter, I am in the habit of ignoring the day's weather and how I actually feel. If I only ran on nice days, when it's not too cold and I have someone to run with and feel pretty good...well you could count my annual runs on a few hands.

Working out consistently implies discomfort. Yes, there have been many frigid days on the bike, this fall and all the shoulder seasons going back 20+ years. I don't strive for comfort, just consistency. Having a set day to wear shorts gets a little harder each year, as the internal furnace struggles to cope with declining levels of testosterone.

The weather here in Halifax is so variable and so consistently lousy in the Spring and Fall...that I consider that we only have 2 seasons here...Winter, where one needs gloves, long pants, a hat, the furnace running in the house, etc....and Not Winter, where we revel in barbeques on the deck, shorts, sandals, trips to the beach, puttering in the back yard and hoping it is still cool enough to sleep at night.

So, it is Nov.02. It must be Winter...cause I'm wearing long pants.

Bruce
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Simpler is Better