shoot first

I hate Edmonton. Not all the time. Sometimes I remember my obligatory need to fawn over the city I grew up in. Then I also remember the several reasons why I'd love to just ditch Edmonton, and even move to the enemy known as Calgary. Forget the homely nature of this city, the multiple festivals (I wonder if there are any running right now), and even our apparent scenery; I want the convenience of living closer to the border.

Today's special overused reason to leave: The WEATHER.

By March, one could expect the snow to become a wet mash of bugs, dirt, and ice. Not here. I just took the shovel out awhile ago to re-shovel the snow that some awful draft of wind decided to fling back on the sidewalks and driveway. If I stick the shovel into the piles left on the sides, the barely five inches of a four foot shovel are left visible. I could probably kill myself if I fell in my own backyard. Within two days there'll probably be another random snowfall, and I'll have to clean it up. Within an hour the wind will pick up and hurl everything back. And then I'll cry.

If I lived in B.C. I wouldn't have this problem. Sources tell me that the land of Asians, nude beaches, backyard grizzlies, and humidity doesn't even get snow. What they get is one day of slightly-colder rain passed off as Winter.
Actually, if I lived in Calgary, I wouldn't have this problem either.
What I would get is a mountain view, reminding me that beneath the chill and beyond the uncouth, there is a reason to make the effort worth staying.

Also chinook winds. The founders of Edmonton missed the memo on this, and built the city just far enough we get no mountains on the skyline.

Anywho, I have some vegetable seeds I just bought. I wanted to try my hand at crafting life from the ground. One of the packages indicate that I need to germinate it six weeks prior to spring. Isn't that in a couple of weeks, spring? Riiiiight.