There was a time back in Ontario when I would shutter at the thought of this month called November.
Cool- if not cold.
Overcast.
Rainy and gray.
Wet snow and frozen snow- and
Dark.
I'm not thinking that way here on the left coast of Canada.
We've had many days of sunshine here this autumn and lately, only a couple of rain-soaked mornings that turned into sunny afternoons. As a matter of fact this past weekend when Orillia back in Ontario, has been seeing snow and ice and wind chills of minus 11, we here in the Cowichan on Vancouver Island have been enjoying morning coffee in the sunshine and afternoon walks in shorts and a sweatshirt.
We are lucky here.
Oh, it's no Florida but we don't see minus 11 either- or snow and blowing snow like I saw in the video on the Weather Network this past Saturday. Much of our garden is still green- although a couple of cold overnights caused the huge elephant ear-sized leaves of my Red Abyssinian Banana plant to droop and go mushy. Yet, nearby the New Zealand Flax, a towering green banana plant and the Cordyline are all as they were.
Today, I decided to look back over blogs I had written years ago to see what comments I had made in November. Here's one thought from November 2014:
"We seem to be stuck in the midst of dull and grey. This is when I hear- this is exactly what the west coast is like. Would you want to live there? Yes!! Chances are there will be no snow...some mornings I am afraid to open the shutters (in Ontario)..."
I don't sound like a happy camper- do I? I continue:
"We have to keep busy this month. Have a coffee with friends. Go to the theatre. Get out for a walk in the soggy, damp, miserable air."
Yikes!
Sounds like a dismal scene setup for Dicken's- A Christmas Carol.
I go on to talk about turning both my Online radio stations-Swisssh and Starlite, into Christmas Jukeboxes. I mention a radio station manager who says:
"I get asked in October when is the Christmas Music starting. Holiday Music is like comfort food, you know Macaroni and Cheese, only Let it Snow and It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas."
This is true since I see many, many, many additional listeners on both stations once I play nothing buy Holiday Tunes. This season marks the 10th anniversary of Swisssh playing all holiday music under the moniker of "Your OFFICIAL" Holiday Music Station". We lose a few regulars until closer to Christmas but we more than make up for that with seasonal listenership.
What can it hurt playing Christmas Tuues now?. I have heard of many stations- both Terrestrial and Online, playing 100% Christmas already and what does it hurt keeping a few "Scrooges" in Holiday check a little early. Who cares if the Grinch starts to smile in Mid-November instead of Christmas Eve?
It's November on the Island too and one trip around the aisles of Hudson's Bay or Canadian Tire will tell the tale- Christmas is here for another year! I intend to shout it from the rooftops in my new Island Home. Last year since we just moved in to our new home the first of December, the Holidays were a bit of a rush. We had overnight guests and visitors and it was difficult to find time to decorate the trees that stood for a week- set up but not decorated. This year I have the luxury of more time- and believe me like back home in Ontario, I start early because I enjoy taking my time.
Even though we are living in the "Duncan Riviera"- as a friend calls it, we still have a few weeks to go after Christmas to endure what Islanders call "winter" before we see Snowdrops in late January and cherry blossoms soon after.
Sorry about that Ontarians. I really am.
I used to stockpile all that holiday cheer from November and December and live on it as the months of January and February- sometimes March, dragged on and on and on.
Not quite the same here in British Columbia to be sure, however Islanders still like to think November and December as unbearably cold and wintry. Judging by last winter's weather, I have to say they are a bunch of wintry wimps and wouldn't last a day or two in the grips of a real hearty Ontario winter.
Anyhoo, November aside, I am setting my sites on Christmas and Swisssh and Starlite will both begin programming holiday music this coming weekend.
Fah Lah Lah.
I am also happier than a fan in a windstorm that I live here in this mild, Mediterranean climate.
Let be be the first to say-
Happy Holidays!
