A feature of being in the temperate zones is that you actually have changing seasons, as opposed to merely rainy and not-so-rainy in the tropical zones. With the arrival of spring came an event I have not observed in more than a decade and a half - the moving of the clocks forward for daylight saving time (DST).
I actually love DST, when I am somewhere it makes sense. I remember as a very young child when Jamaica still observed it, that I would be awoken at an unconscionably dark hour of morning, assured it was 6:00 a.m. and told I needed to get ready for school. Where the diurnal difference in sunrise and sunset varies only about 1.5 - 2 hours at most during the year, DST was doing no-one in Jamaica any favours. As it is, we did away with it sometime during my primary school years, and I was none the poorer for it.
Here in the northern climes, though, DST makes all the sense in the world. The diurnal difference in sunrise and sunset can get up to as much as 22 hours (in the extreme north, or Arctic regions), but here in northern ON it is about 5 hours (by my inexpert reckoning). And it is wonderful! I wake at 5:30 a.m. most days, and don't go to bed until say 11:00 p.m. usually, and here in Canada, that means it's only been dark for about an hour by the time I am crawling between the sheets.
Of course, all this daylight has caused a shift in my sleep rhythms. My mother has often referred to me as her "chicken" child, because with the coming of sunset I am ready to find a nest and roost. At this time of year, with sunset in Jamaica sometime around 7:00 p.m., I am yawning my head off by 8:00 p.m. and ready to settle in by 9:00 p.m. at the latest. It makes it hard to stay current with any TV programmes that come on at primetime, because by then I am falling asleep. If I force myself to stay awake, I usually crash by the end of the show and miss the best part, when all is revealed in the last ten minutes.
On the contrary, here in Canada I find myself staying up as late as midnight before I feel sufficiently sleepy enough to get into bed. This is brought on by the fact that the days seem to go by quickly, and it is still light out at "late" times of night, so much so that I feel little to no tiredness, and feel distinctly odd to think of going to bed before it is dark out.
This change in my sleep rhythms has me quite interested to see what it will be like in the wintertime. I recall that in NY I suffered perhaps a mild form of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and hated being indoors during the winter. This time around I am preparing myself to be more outgoing, to enjoy winter rather than endure it, to revel as much in the early sunsets as I do now in the late ones.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
Let's talk about...the weather
No discussion about moving to Canada from Jamaica would be complete without questions on the weather. Of all the contrasts between the two countries, perhaps that would be the most immediate and uppermost in minds. I have been here just under a week now, so it's about time to have that discussion.
Officially, it is spring, and the northern hemisphere's summer starts in just 9 days. From Canadians, including G, I keep hearing how "hot" it is, and inwardly I smile. Yes, I suppose for people used to temperatures in the minus twenties (degrees Celsius), it may seem hot now, with the sun shining and the humidity hovering around 50%. For someone used to temperatures hovering near 34 degrees with 80% or more humidity, the weather now is simply pleasantly warm.
On my first day, it was windy and cool, say around 22 degrees, so I wore a long-sleeved workout top and yoga pants and was comfortable. I plan to acquire some more long-sleeved shirts, knit or jersey, as I was very happy to have that single shirt (the only long-sleeved shirt I own) on Thursday. Saturday morning was another morning to be happy for long-sleeved shirts, as it dawned cool, foggy and wet, and stayed that way until late afternoon. On Saturday, with my long-sleeved shirt in the wash, I had to resort to a hooded sweatshirt over my t-shirt to remain appropriately warm. Surprisingly enough, the temperature rose, the rain and fog cleared off and the evening was very fine.
People you meet in stores and on the street will comment on how "hot" it is, and try to forecast the summer's heat. Having experienced a northern summer before, I know something of what is to come, and I am interested to see if this time it is the same or worse. I cannot expect it to be better, although perhaps the fact that I am in the rural part of the province, as opposed to being in a city, as I was then, will make a difference. It remains to be seen.
Today it is windy, and somewhat cloudy, which over-shadows the warmth and heat that arose earlier in the day. It is cool, in the mid-twenties, low humidity, altogether an agreeable and tolerable temperate day. As time goes on, of course there will be more to say on the weather, but for now? It's quite nice.
Officially, it is spring, and the northern hemisphere's summer starts in just 9 days. From Canadians, including G, I keep hearing how "hot" it is, and inwardly I smile. Yes, I suppose for people used to temperatures in the minus twenties (degrees Celsius), it may seem hot now, with the sun shining and the humidity hovering around 50%. For someone used to temperatures hovering near 34 degrees with 80% or more humidity, the weather now is simply pleasantly warm.
On my first day, it was windy and cool, say around 22 degrees, so I wore a long-sleeved workout top and yoga pants and was comfortable. I plan to acquire some more long-sleeved shirts, knit or jersey, as I was very happy to have that single shirt (the only long-sleeved shirt I own) on Thursday. Saturday morning was another morning to be happy for long-sleeved shirts, as it dawned cool, foggy and wet, and stayed that way until late afternoon. On Saturday, with my long-sleeved shirt in the wash, I had to resort to a hooded sweatshirt over my t-shirt to remain appropriately warm. Surprisingly enough, the temperature rose, the rain and fog cleared off and the evening was very fine.
People you meet in stores and on the street will comment on how "hot" it is, and try to forecast the summer's heat. Having experienced a northern summer before, I know something of what is to come, and I am interested to see if this time it is the same or worse. I cannot expect it to be better, although perhaps the fact that I am in the rural part of the province, as opposed to being in a city, as I was then, will make a difference. It remains to be seen.
Today it is windy, and somewhat cloudy, which over-shadows the warmth and heat that arose earlier in the day. It is cool, in the mid-twenties, low humidity, altogether an agreeable and tolerable temperate day. As time goes on, of course there will be more to say on the weather, but for now? It's quite nice.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Landed!
I spent a very hectic week and a half in Westmoreland with my mother and was able to see my brothers and Grandmother as well. It was worth all the running about just to say I was there and able to see them.
Yesterday was the all-important day, the day I landed in Canada as a permanent resident. After a harrowing landing from what had started as a routine international flight, followed by an involuntary 2-hour confinement on the tarmac in the plane while the airport recovered from the thunderstorms that so terrified me during the landing, I was finally able to enter the airport and process through the various final steps to becoming a permanent resident (PR).
First, the Canadian Border Services Agency examined my declaration card that I was required to fill out on the flight, and directed me to Immigration. Immigration went as expected, and perhaps even more smoothly than it would normally, as I was already so familiar with the requirements of the Act that the officer was relieved of the need to make any explanations, needing only to certify my various documents and then send me on to the next stage.
Stage 3 was declaring my accompanying and to-follow goods and property, and again, preparation made that a smooth process. I had already prepared the necessary forms, so all the Customs officer needed to do was certify them after double-checking they were correctly and completely prepared.
Stage 4 was running to catch my next flight, which was delayed and delayed again until the two hours spent sitting on the tarmac were fully lost and never made up. I arrived in Sudbury at 2:30 a.m. when it should have been midnight, and we were home in Elliot Lake two hours later.
Today has been about settling into the house, getting used to the location of things and re-establishing routines we used to have, such as my doing the dishes after meals because G is the cook. The comfort of these routines will ease me into accepting my new surroundings, and I look forward to each as they come back to us.
Yesterday was the all-important day, the day I landed in Canada as a permanent resident. After a harrowing landing from what had started as a routine international flight, followed by an involuntary 2-hour confinement on the tarmac in the plane while the airport recovered from the thunderstorms that so terrified me during the landing, I was finally able to enter the airport and process through the various final steps to becoming a permanent resident (PR).
First, the Canadian Border Services Agency examined my declaration card that I was required to fill out on the flight, and directed me to Immigration. Immigration went as expected, and perhaps even more smoothly than it would normally, as I was already so familiar with the requirements of the Act that the officer was relieved of the need to make any explanations, needing only to certify my various documents and then send me on to the next stage.
Stage 3 was declaring my accompanying and to-follow goods and property, and again, preparation made that a smooth process. I had already prepared the necessary forms, so all the Customs officer needed to do was certify them after double-checking they were correctly and completely prepared.
Stage 4 was running to catch my next flight, which was delayed and delayed again until the two hours spent sitting on the tarmac were fully lost and never made up. I arrived in Sudbury at 2:30 a.m. when it should have been midnight, and we were home in Elliot Lake two hours later.
Today has been about settling into the house, getting used to the location of things and re-establishing routines we used to have, such as my doing the dishes after meals because G is the cook. The comfort of these routines will ease me into accepting my new surroundings, and I look forward to each as they come back to us.
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