Snow nestled on the boughs of the bush outside our kitchen window, the vapour coming out of the chimney of the house behind ours, watching the kids make snowmen and snow forts in our backyard -- these are the sights of winter that I like.
On the other hand, as I looked out the window from our living room, I saw the 15 inches of snow in our front yard, the shoveled pathway and sidewalk, the mountain of snow about three feet high that was blocking my view of the driveway, and further down by the streets, more piles and heaps of snow. The icy street glistened in the sunshine. There weren't any people outside. It looked like an abandoned town, like a scene from a Stephen King movie. But it wasn't. This was the sight that greeted me that frigid Wednesday morning, January 28, 2004.
I turned on the TV in the kitchen and started preparing breakfast. The weather channel told me that Environment Canada had issued a weather warning for southern Manitoba. The temperature was minus 35, wind chill was minus 50. Frostbite (on exposed skin) can occur in less than two minutes. Wind chill warning was in effect through Thursday.
When Reggie came downstairs, I told him, "I think you should take a cab to school." His school is about five blocks away and it's a good ten-minute walk. "That, or bundle up really good, wear something under your pants, but you don't have any long johns. You can wear Daddy's ski pants," I continued. He said that he'd wear ski pants and would just walk to school.
Later on, my sister Lina called and said that she would give Reggie a ride to school. I told her, "I was thinking of calling a cab for Reggie. He has flute choir today and he has to be in school at 7:30."
"That's ok," she replied, "I'll give him a ride, and Agnus, too, later."
I went upstairs and told Ryland that it was very cold outside, and I wanted him to just stay home.
I asked Ryan if he wanted to stay home, too. "No, I want to go to school," he replied.
I called the elementary school to confirm if classes were cancelled. The person on the other line told me, "No. We have classes today."
I then told the guy, "I'm keeping my kindergartener at home."
He asked for my child's name and room number, and didn't ask any more questions. He must have understood my concern for my child.
I looked out the window again. It looked just like a huge freezer outside. I saw a lady walking towards the bus stop. She was completely bundled up from head to toe, only her eyes were exposed. I saw the white frost that was forming on the scarf that was wrapped around her face. Then I saw a guy going the other direction. He was also completely covered, wearing a winter face mask, with that familiar frost forming from under his nose. I wiped the moisture that had condensed on the window. I noticed the ice that had formed inside, around the window frames.
Lina told me that she would bring the kids (the elementary ones) to school, after she had dropped off Agnus and Saurus at their respective schools.
Ryan went to their house at 8:30. I was waiting by the window to see them off. I saw a couple of kids walking to school. "Pityful creatures walking in the frigid cold," I thought.
At around 8:40, I saw my nephew, Angelus, came outside. He seemed to be waiting for his mother. A few minutes later, he went back inside. A couple more minutes and I saw Lina coming. As she walked towards their house, I thought that she might have gone to 7-11 to buy something.
Then the phone rang. It was Lina. She said that after she dropped Agnus off at school, her van got stuck at a back lane somewhere on Springfield Road. She couldn't get the van out of the snow bank and she left it there. She asked me to call a cab for the kids. I called Unicity Taxi. The line was busy. I called Duffy's Taxi. The line was also busy. I called her back. It was already 8:50. I told her to let the kids walk because I couldn't get a hold of any of the taxi companies.
She said, "The bitter cold is very harsh on the skin."
I told her, "Just bundle up the kids really good. I'm coming over to fix Ryan's scarf on his face."
She said, "That's okay. I'll do it."
The kids started walking to school. She then called me again and said that she called CAA, but was told to phone another towing company because CAA was very busy that morning. She would get reimbursed for whatever it would cost. She phoned a towing company to help her get the van out of the snow bank. She was able to drive her van back home safely.
At lunch, she picked up her kids from school. Later in the afternoon, she also picked up Reggie and his cousins, and the smaller ones at the elementary school.
I watched the 6:00 news at CKY that night. Sylvia Kuzyk, weathercaster, said that it was the coldest day so far in Winnipeg. On that day, Winnipeg was the second coldest place in the world, even colder than Antarctica, which had a coldest temperature that day of minus 31. Key Lake, Saskatchewan was the coldest place with a temperature of minus 52. She also said that this would go down in history as one of the coldest day ever, something that we could tell to our grandkids.
The harsh weather continued until Thursday. I let Ryland go to school. Lina brought the kids to and back from school. CKY reported that 1,200 Stonewall homes and businesses were left without heat because of a natural gas problem. A resident said that she wore four layers of clothing to keep warm.
On Friday night, Lina phoned me. "Are you going grocery shopping tomorrow?" she asked.
I said, "Yes."
"If you want, I can give you a lift to Superstore after I drop off the kids at catechism school," the voice on the other line said. Our kids have catechism class every Saturday. I usually take the cab to Superstore when I do my groceries. "Francis (her husband) said that people at work were talking about the long wait for taxis for the past couple of days. The wait could take up to two hours," she continued.
"Oh, okay," I replied. "I will get up earlier than usual then."
On Saturday morning, I hopped in the van with them and we dropped off the kids at St. Alphonsus. On our way to Superstore, I asked Lina, "So, why did you really end up at that back lane on Wednesday morning?"
She begun, "After I dropped off Agnus at school, I headed off to Saurus' school. I was at Sutton Street and I have to get to Springfield Road. But there was a traffic line up. I saw this back lane and I drove there. There was a car parked behind one of the houses. The car was parked close to the garage. I thought that I could easily sneak by because there was room for one more vehicle. But of course, I didn't realize that the back lane wasn't completely cleared of snow. I got stuck in the snow bank. The lady got out of her car and tried to shovel around my tires, while Saurus pushed the van. But soon, her husband called her to come back inside the car because they would be late for work. I asked the lady if she can just leave the shovel with me and I will return it, leave it on her garage, once I am done with it. The couple left and Saurus helped me pushed the van, but to no avail. The more I try to drive out of the snow, the more I got stuck. I told Saurus to leave and start walking to school, which is not that far from where we were. I knocked on one of the houses, and luckily the owner let me in to use the phone. I explained to her that my van was stuck out there in the snow and I needed to call CAA. I phoned the company but I only got a busy signal. I thanked the home owner. I left the van and started walking home. You know how far Sutton Street is. (It was about six blocks away.) And it was minus 35 that morning. I was so cold. My face was almost numb. I could hardly move my jaws. The strands of my hair that was peeking out from my hood was all frosty."
And that was when I saw her walking home on Wednesday morning.
Friday's low of minus 41 (with minus 54 wind chill) was the coldest this season. Thursday's minus 40.6 had been the previous low. We haven't had two successive days of minus 40 since 1996.
CAA Manitoba has logged more than 19,917 calls in January. It will likely go down in CAA history as one of the busiest months ever. On Friday, 36 hours was the basic wait for low-priority motorists who needed a boost or a tow.
Garages and dealerships across the city saw plenty of dead batteries, flat tires, broken starters and dented fenders. There were lots of accidents because of the cold and ice.
Schools around the city reported higher-than-usual absences, attributed to the weather.
While their cars were in the shop or waiting to be towed, Winnipeggers headed to the bus stops to get around. On Thursday, ridership was up by 25,000 trips, due in part to the cancellation of school buses across the city.
This frigid weather is really something that we can tell to our grandkids. And I have to agree with Sylvia. Let's look at the bright side. At least, it's not a war that we encountered, not like what the unfortunate ones on the other side of the world have experienced.
