Page 12 - Forest Hill Lifestyle Magazine March 2022

Elliott Katz is a speaker and Award winning author
Winter
makes Canada a great country. It is part of our identity as Canadians. While some people may complain
about winter and avoid it by being snowbirds and going south, many Canadians recognize that winter is the most wonderful time of the year and embrace and celebrate it.
This may sound like the rantings of a chionophile (one who thrives in winter - derived from the Greek word chion which means “snow” and -phile "lover"). But I am not the only one.
In The Canadian Encyclopedia, Laura Neilson Bonikowsky wrote, “Winter may be considered an unnatural environment for humans, but Canadians seem to revel in the hardiness that allows them to weather, if not actually embrace, their harsh winter climate, so much so that winter may be said to be part of Canadian identity.”
Of course, the best way to celebrate winter, is to immerse
yourself in it. It was when I first went winter camping that I realized winter really is the most wonderful time of the year.
It may sound crazy to sleep outside in winter, but experiencing how comfortable one could be camping in a shelter made of pine boughs and snow in a forest inspired me to appreciate winter’s beauty.
I remember my first trip. We left at sunrise. As the sun sets early in winter, we needed an early start to ensure we finished building the shelter before it got dark. When we got to the trailhead, we put on snowshoes, loaded heavy packs on our backs and started hiking through the forest. The trees were covered with snow. It was a beautiful winter wonderland.
12 FOREST HILL Lifestyle MARCH 2022
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