When making our decision to move to the Island, one of the big concerns I had was ‘will I be able to handle the grey, rainy winter?”  I really do love the blue skies, contrasted with the white snow, when we were snowshoeing, skiing or hiking in the Adirondacks.  It made the many days of bone chilling cold, snow shovelling, getting into freezing cars etc worth it, or so I thought. 

We have not yet finished the winter but so far, my fears have not been substantiated. It’s been so enjoyable and we really do not miss the bone-chilling cold and snow.

We have learned:

1. We don’t have to shovel snow!

2.  We can enjoy snow.  We have had some snow at our house but it disappears quickly. We have enjoyed seeing snow from afar.  The snow-capped mountains on the mainland satisfy my penchant for snow scenes.  

On clear days we have enjoyed spectacular light shows and alpenglow (we call it strawberry ice cream!) and so still thrill at the sight.  Closer to home, the significant amount of rain we have received have translated to snow on the higher hills/mountains so we have had some lovely scenes of icing sugar topped mountains here on the island  – quite lovely.  We have not yet done any significant snowshoeing but we know we can when we want to.

3.  We are outside a lot.  Yes there are many rainy days which keep us inside. But there are many other days without rain.  Some may be cloudy and a bit grey but we have learned to exploit these moments and hike or bike. 

Just getting outside and seeing how green everything is, or enjoying the engorged rivers and waterfalls is always good for the soul.  

Then there are the days where the world becomes alive with sunshine and blue skies.  Enjoying the sunshine and being outside, in any activity makes us smile from ear to ear, and we store up the good vibes for the next grey or rainy period.

So winter here is just fine.  Temperatures between 0 and 10C mean that we hike or bike or paddle without the fear of frostbite.  We revel in the lush green all around us (even our lawn is green!)  The scenery is spectacular with snow capped mountains and rushing waterfalls.   And when the sun shines, we just forget that we ever had rain! We also know it’s only for a short time, spring comes early here on the island!