Page 13 - Forest Hill Lifestyle Magazine March 2022

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The snow was deep. Without snowshoes to keep us on top of the snow, we would have sunk to our thighs. We reached the frozen lake where we were going to build the shelter in the forest beside the lake. We organized the tasks. One person gathered pine boughs. Another used his snowshoes to dig out an area where we were going to build the shelter. Another person gathered wood for the fire to cook food and keep us warm.
I worked on building a frame of pine boughs for the shelter. Once the frame was done, we all piled snow to cover it. At this point I still thought it was crazy that we were going to sleep in this shelter of snow and pine boughs. When we finished the shelter, we unrolled our winter sleeping bags. It was actually warm inside the shelter. As the sun went down, we cooked supper on the fire and ate by the light of a candle lantern. The snow was falling.
We got ready to go to sleep. Would we really sleep outside in the winter? The next morning we awoke. We had made it through the night. It was surprisingly comfortable.
That day, as I gathered firewood, I felt so warm I stopped wearing my parka. I was amazed how comfortable I was in the winter wilderness.
When I got back to the city, I felt different – I had taken on a challenge that few people try. It gave me a warm appreciation for winter. I now appreciate the beauty of winter. And I don’t appreciate people who use negative words to describe winter. When I hear someone describing winter as bad, I ignore them.
You don’t have to camp outside to enjoy winter as the most wonderful time of the year. There are activities where you can experience the amazing feeling of being warm outside in the winter – ice
skating, hockey, tobogganing, building snow forts, snowshoeing, skiing, snowboarding, curling and drinking hot chocolate by a wood fire.
Try them and you may also become a chionophile and realize that winter is the most wonderful time of the year.
Elliott Katz is the author of Great Country Walks Around Toronto and Being the Strong Man A Woman Wants: Timeless wisdom on being a man. Both books are available on Amazon. He also speaks to groups about the insights in his book on being a man. You can contact him through his website www.ElliottKatz.com or ElliottRKatz@aol.com
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