PRAIRIE POWER

We are a strange bunch, we prairie people.  A strange bunch indeed.

As the weather advisories started to appear on TV and Facebook on Sunday night a trickle of excitement sparked to life in our hearts.  There are plenty of folks who would deny this, but it's true all the same.  We all kind of held our breath and waited to see if the early models of the predicted storm would be upgraded or downgraded as time went by.  In the back of our minds we began to do the math ... did we have what it takes to weather this weather?  It's a kind of adrenaline rush; Mother Nature throwing down the gauntlet.  We want to know, are we worthy of picking it up?

Even though there are plenty who say "I hate winter!", unless they are being held here against their will, a little voice deep inside us whispers the words "Bring it on!"  I've never been sure if the people who choose to live here do so because they revel in challenges like this, or is it something in the water - once we have felt the prairie wind in our faces and braved the scorching sun of summer and bitter cold of winter we become infected with this passion to prove ourselves.  We want to show the stuff we are made of.  We want to step up to the plate.  We want to take on the test and come out the winner.

By Sunday nightfall the predictions were turning toward something significant.  There would be snow, and lots of it.  There would be wind and zero visibility.  And with that wind, the temperatures would drop to very nasty territory.  Although they still weren't calling it a bona fide blizzard on Monday morning the snow was dumping down - lots of raw material for what was to come.  In the local jargon, we appeared to be "in for it".  We are aware that it's absurd to be happy about this, but on the inside there was a significant amount of fist pumping going on.

As we waited through the morning, before the storm actually settled in, there was a little stock-taking happening.  How long was this supposed to last?  Did we have everything we needed to sit this thing out?  Was there time for a run to town for basic things like milk and eggs and bread?  Personally I could see myself getting a lot of Christmas baking done during these next house-bound days so these ingredients would be good to have on hand, but this is a well-stocked farm home; we could survive quite well on what we already have.  We are strong and independent; we can take care of ourselves.

And that's the crux of our mindset.  It's because we come from pioneer stock.  It's because we grew up hearing the stories of blizzards of the past - the ones where our ancestors learned what they needed to survive in this climate so they could pass their knowledge on down to us.  For sure we don't have to worry about getting enough wood split and carried in to keep the fires burning through a three day storm like they did, and we have shelter belts that slow down the wind and yard lights to guide us around our yards if there are chores to do, but because we heard their stories we understand and respect the power of Mother Nature.

We know the danger of being caught out in such conditions and that it truly is a matter of life and death.  We may have central heating in our homes but in the back of our minds we have a back up plan if the power ever went out.  We know to ration the important things because there is no guarantee of when we will be able to refresh our supplies.  We will make sure that the tractor is plugged in so we can clear the yard when the storm is over, and we will stay in touch with our neighbours to make sure that are doing okay through it all.

Instead of being afraid of what was to come we revelled in the challenge ahead of us.  We grinned, and we dug in.  We are a strange bunch, alright.  For us a prairie blizzard is just an adult version of a SNOW DAY.