Whenever I talk about escaping the Ottawa winters, my timeframe always starts in November. Technically winter doesn’t start until December 21st, and in Ottawa we usually don’t get our first meaningful snowfall until the month of December, but for me November is the toughest month of the year.
In Ottawa most November days are overcast and damp. As I write this I look out the window and see cloudy skies, and leaves on the ground that I haven't got around to raking up. I open the front door and feel a cold wind blowing. I always feel cold in November. Thank god for hoodies,warm track pants, and thick socks.
I’ve become a big fan of sunshine and the therapeutic value of sunny days. It all started several years ago when a friend of mine now living in Scottsdale, Arizona explained how the Arizona sun had a tremendous impact on his mental health. He’s originally from Des Moines, Iowa, where I’m told the Fall and Winter weather are very similar to Ottawa. Lots of cloudy days and damp weather in the Fall and very cold and snowy in the winter. He would make five trips a year from Des Moines to Scottsdale to enjoy the sunny climate of Arizona. He said he did it to improve his mood and mental health. He’s the one who enlightened me to the value of sunshine. When he first told me this I privately waived off his explanation, not buying the “sun is good for your mental health” theory. He went on to say that Arizona gets 330 days of sunshine each year. “That’s crazy”, I thought.
I would usually see him in Arizona during our March trip there. When he told me about the 330 days of sunshine in Arizona, I started tracking the number of days of sunshine we received in Ottawa for a full year. I tracked Ottawa’s sunny days for the next 12 months at 154, less than half of Arizona! Now that my buddy had planted the seed in my head about the therapeutic value of sunshine, I started paying closer attention to my own mood on clear sunny days. He was right! When I woke up to a sunny day, I was much more elevated right from the get go. When I’d be in my office and I’d look out the window and see sunshine I became elevated. My buddy’s theory wasn’t such fluff after all. And, by the way, his money was where his mouth was. A few years later he retired and moved full-time to Scottsdale, Arizona. He didn’t stay retired for long but he’s enjoying the Arizona sun every day.
I haven’t measured it but intuitively November is the most cloudy month of the year in Ottawa. The lack of sunshine definitely bums me out. Also, we can get some warm days in October, but November is definitely the onset of colder temperatures, which I find hard to handle. It’s tougher to go for walks outside as we can often have biting winds along with the cooler temperatures. People do walk outside in November, as do I, but the winter coats, gloves and toques are definitely being worn. In Ottawa we usually get snow falls starting in December, but it's not unusual to get early snowfalls in November. November snow falls are a major downer on our moods.
I’ll take a day in January with sunshine but -15 degrees celsius, over a cloudy November day of -5 degrees celsius. In other words I’ll take a bit of a cold and lots of sunshine, over less cold and cloudiness. The consistent cloudy days of the month of November in Ottawa are a real downer on the psyche. Again, it’s the power of the sun, or the lack thereof that makes November so difficult for me to bear.
Even though I’m not Christian, I grew up in Ottawa with the joyous Christmas season a part of our life. I like the Christmas season, and I like it in December. I don’t like seeing Christmas commercials on TV in November, or Christmas decorations in the stores in November. Damn you Walmart and Canadian Tire! Thirty days of Chiristmas festivities is enough. November is for the U.S. Thanksgiving, for the Grey Cup and for adjusting from Fall temperatures to Winter…not for Christmas!
To me the month of November is Mother Nature's way of saying “get ready, Ottawa. Four solid months of Winter are coming your way!”.
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