I'm looking out the window right now and can barely see the building across the street through the steady flow of falling snow. It's not an uncommon sight considering it's winter in Canada. And yet somehow, everytime it snows even people who have lived here their whole lives seem to be surprised and not konw how to act. For those of you (which, admittedly, includes me), here's part of an article by Steve Maxwell for casaGURU with some handy hints for hibernating:

"My wife and I went for a walk yesterday morning, and about 20 minutes into the cold wind and blowing snow, she shuddered and offered the opinion that wintertime Canada is like the moon.

Her tone made the words a curse, which is just what you’d expect from someone raised in the tropics and walking through a blizzard. I wonder what she would have said if I’d told her that most of her dark brown hair was now turning white with frost everywhere it happened to peek out from under her toque.

But even as a hard-core, born-in-a-snowdrift Canadian, I have to admit she has a point. Just like the moon, you need to suit up in bulky, specialized clothing merely to stay alive outdoors between November and March. A Canadian house is like a spaceship, complete with mechanical systems to meet our needs for oxygen, warmth and shelter from the cruel blasts....'

You can find the rest of the article here.