My Journey With Health And Fitness – Staying Safe In Winter Weather

Well, our house is starting to look like Christmas. We have both of our trees up (we have a small one we set up in the basement and then a large one upstairs). Sunday I managed to decorate the big one while my husband worked on the small one. Usually I won’t do any decorating until Dec 1st but somehow this year it just felt right to get things done early.

Today we will likely get our first real blast of winter. While we have had some cold days, today is the first day it will really snow. They say we could get up to 20 centimeters and while it will probably warm up and start raining early tomorrow morning, there will be all sorts of mayhem happening this afternoon. For us here in the Metro Vancouver region, snow is not really a common thing so when it does snow everything basically grinds to a halt. And while we don’t get a lot of snow, it is still good to be prepared in order to keep everyone safe.

A few years ago we did have some bad snow storms come through. Unfortunately as they were unexpected it caused panic buying of salt and so most stores ran out. It was so bad some of the municipalities were having a tough time getting salt to do the roads. That was a real lesson for us so now as soon as we see salt out in the stores we start buying it. Now you would think that would lead to hoarding but since we share the salt with the entire neighbourhood I would argue that it is not. As soon as cold weather hits we heavily salt all driveways and walkways. Since we have a fairly sloped driveway I also start parking on the street. Our goal is to keep everything as clear as possible to avoid the risk of anyone falling on the snow or ice. We also have begun to get our snowblower checked and ready to go in October so that if it has to go for servicing there is plenty of time to do so. It has already been started up and the lines cleaned so we know it is ready for us and the neighbours.

Finally, it is important to have the right clothing. Yesterday when we left home for the seniors’ walk it was 0 degrees but -5 with the windchill. I made sure to heavily bundle up with a couple layers of clothing, a heavy jacket, gloves, large scarf and what I like to call my super toque. The only thing I realized I missed was better socks which I changed into before I walked the dog later in the day. I won’t say I was overly warm, but at least I wasn’t freezing cold.

I should note, I have a heavy day of volunteering today including walking a senior’s dog. However, I have already reached out to my volunteer organizations to see what to do in inclement weather. The support group that I facilitate this afternoon will be shut down for the day if there are concerns about the weather. As for the dog, there are a couple volunteers right across the street from her apartment that will take care of her if I can’t make it so she will be in good hands.

The important thing is to be prepared and keep yourself safe during the upcoming winter weather.