There’s something about January that makes a person long for a time clock that could either speed up or turn back time, back to the fairy-tale glow of Christmas or forward to frolicking in the warmth of spring sunshine.
Instead, we wake up in darkness, banging angry alarms, and stumble to the kitchen for a cup of coffee, only to see those December bills that make us want to crawl back into bed. We head outside to shovel in -20 degree weather, only to come back an hour later to find vehicles and driveways buried another foot of snow.
Some call the resulting moping the Blue Monday effect, which falls on the third Monday of the month, and claim it’s the most depressing day of the year. While this term is perhaps based less on science and more on folklore, there’s no doubt that a combination of debt, work, lack of sunshine, and in the prairies, harsh winter weather, can make for a miserable month.
But there’s something about a Canadian winter that brings people together, to share a different kind of warmth. If a car gets stuck in a patch of snow, passers-by are quick to put their heads down and push. People might give walkers a lift, or buy a hot coffee for the person pumping their gas. One really heartening example is the Snow Angel program, in which residents help their neighbours shovel driveways or sidewalks if the resident is unable to do so for him or herself. Even if a person is physically able to shovel by him or herself, it still can gladden the heart to see someone else help out, a random act of kindness.
We heard of one person who was helping to clear sidewalks at the St. Paul Abilities Network (SPAN), who, before leaving, lay down on the snow and left a literal Snow Angel on the ground, an imprint that showed someone is always willing to help, and that we are, none of us, ever alone.
Cheer up readers, we’re halfway through January and well on our way to the spring sunshine. Until it gets here, we’re all in this together.
