Winter on the Coast

Winter is my favourite time of the year. “Why?” you may ask. These are the reasons why it is the best time of year…

First and foremost, winter means hockey. Which also means my favourite sport. You also get to travel the coast for weekend long hockey tournaments which is great. It’s also one of Canada’s major sports along with lacrosse.

Something else that’s impressive about winter is snowmobiling and travelling. If you don’t live in a place where children ride freely on snowmobiles, then you may think it’s a little unsafe… and you’re right. But it’s the only way to travel from village to village without breaking the bank! Some people might say it’s worth it to fly, but I don’t agree with that, unless maybe the tickets are on sale. Even then, ski-doo is better because you get to enjoy the scenery and the experience.

You may be questioning, “oh what else can you possibly do in the winter?” The response to that is “whatever you want”, because the possibilities are endless – except swimming because you know hypothermia and stuff!

There are a few things that frustrate me when it comes to winter though. For example, the wolves that find their way to our village each winter; they are everywhere at night. Don’t even think about leaving meat hanging in your shed because the next day it will be gone! Last year, there were wolf footprints 30 feet from my door; scary right? You must keep a close eye on your dog or it might end up being a snack to some random wolf wandering the village. You may think this is unlikely, but it happens and it’s horrible.

One of the worst things about winter is snow blindness. I don’t know why but if I go outside for ten minutes without glasses or goggles, I get snow-blind. A soon as I walk in the house everything goes black; I need to sit down and kind of ease into it, otherwise I will end up flat on my face! To the people who don’t have to deal with this kind of torture, consider yourselves lucky.

The final thing that makes me mad about winter is the road situation. If you’re not from here, then this is going to be hard to explain but imagine riding a mechanical bull and having to deal with that where ever you go within the village. It is so bumpy from all the people riding on it, that it’s a pain… literally! Some people need to replace snowmobile shocks every two years, which is unusual; that’s roughly six hundred dollars on shocks every two years! Just imagine going to the store, then “cracccckkkk”! Boom! Six hundred dollars in the hole, plus installation.

Those were the pros and cons of winter on the Coast. But let’s be honest, despite winter’s annoyances, it will always be the best season.

by Kolin Driscoll secondary 2, École St.Augustine School