And then, the snow came...

By Lorenço Menezes Vieira

There is a snow storm outside, I am in my bedroom and I can´t stop staring at the window and sometimes I think I am hypnotised by the snow!

When I arrived here in Canada, a lot of people told me that the real winter, with snow until our knees and temperatures of minus 5, 10, 30 degrees would be a little depressing. In the beginning of the winter I decided that I wouldn`t read sad novels, because they could let me down.

But, suddenly, while I was looking outside and I saw everything white, this atmosphere reminded me one of my favourite novels, Blindness. For those who don`t know, Blindness is a novel written by José Saramago and the book tells the story of a country that faces a “white blindness” epidemic.

This “white blindness” has a lot of meanings and by the time you are getting deeper in the story and in the lives of each character, you are figuring out each meaning and side effects that this weird blindness has on them.

One of them is that with “everything white” around us, we start to look to ourselves and when this happens everything comes to the surface, good and bad things, love and hate, strengths and weakness, good memories and some nightmares, hopes and frustrations, dreams and disappointments, past and future.

So, how can Canada be such a peaceful country?

With the white, different from the book, comes the cold... And, with a winter that has an average temperate of minus 6 during almost 4 months, a biological process not only happens with the bears; but, in some way, somehow, we, human beings hibernate too.

In a weather like this, we sleep a lot or we wish we could sleep more; we eat more, especially, chocolates; we spend more time indoors; we wear more clothes... Sometimes, we look like a bear wearing our big and fluffy coats.

Hibernation is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression in animals, characterized by lower body temperature, slower breathing, and lower metabolic rate... That`s why Canada doesn`t become the country that Saramago portrayed in his book. With the snow, we become more introspective; it`s awkward, but we think more, we contemplate more the things around us, we calm down.

Chemistry tells us that “when heat leaves all substances, the molecules vibrate slower. The atoms can get closer which results in the matter contracting”. In other words, in a philosophical approach, we think more about ourselves. Each of us is a puzzle and it looks like that the pieces of the puzzle get closer with the cold.

Maybe, that`s why we become more sensitive and during the winter: we see more people crying, but also we see more “real” smiles; some people they become very serious and “poker face”*, in the other hand, we meet people that they are willing to listen to us; we don`t talk TO a lot of people, however, we talk WITH more people; people don`t get so excited or agitated, although, they take their time; we see more crazy people on the streets and in the TCC (bus/subway), otherwise, we notice more people watching their steps, and it`s not only because the sidewalks are slippery.

So, facing the snow and living in temperatures below zero, is it wonderful? It`s good, but we get fed up too. More than prepare ourselves to the cold by buying and wearing scarf, gloves, sweaters, coats, socks, boots, we have to get ready to deal with ourselves! And it`s difficult and, sometimes, boring facing and thinking about ourselves!

So, we don`t only need to arrange ourselves, but we need to be brave and also enjoy this moment; or otherwise, maybe until the end of the winter, you can be one of those crazy people in the TTC.

Chemists say that “when heat is added to a substance, the molecules and atoms vibrate faster. As atoms vibrate faster, the space between atoms increases (...) The end result of increased molecular motion is that the object expands and takes up more space”. Maybe, that`s why when summer comes people go wild!

Kinetic theory of matter tells that “all matter is made up of atoms and molecules that are constantly moving (...) However, the mass of the object remains the same, it doesn`t change”. Fortunately, we are not only objects; we are much more than that!


* poker face = a face without any interpretable expression