Winter weather can often be extreme and unpredictable. Between snow storms, high winds, warm spells and cold snaps, this winter has been no exception. What has been interesting to me is that sometimes life seems to parallel the weather.

The weather here in the Bridge River Valley in British Columbia has included everything from crisp clear bluebird days to heavy snowstorms, fog and even freezing rain. This frost thaw cycle has made day-to-day life, especially travel, extremely difficult. The terrain becomes very unstable spawning avalanches, rock falls, pot holes, squishy lake surfaces and hidden ice patches. This is not unlike how life has been for me recently.

The parallel is that this winter I have experienced many types of emotional terrain. I have enjoyed the best family holiday in years, connected with many dear friends and esteemed colleagues, endured theft of personal property, then I unexpectedly said goodbye to one of my sisters, left Ontario, returned to Mother Nature and the little log cabin in BC, and now I grieve the loss of another family member. Yes, my emotional landscape has been very interesting to negotiate, to say the least.

So how does one cope? This is what I have learned … because the weather always changes, often life’s frost thaw cycle can take you by surprise.  For me I think the trick is to travel slowly to negotiate all the hazards, but to keep moving, keep breathing … and … to be grateful that I can still enjoy the journey.

Dedicated to my cousin, Paul Protasiewcz, who now joins our departed ancestors and a Happy Birthday to my sister Ann Marie!