Dear Ottawa,

For such a long time, your people have thrown the “But why England? Isn’t the weather always bad there? Isn’t it always raining?” stereotype in my face, some genuinely curious, others trying to annoy me, knowing how much I hate misconceptions people have about other countries.

Well, today, I irreverently stick my tongue out at you, Ottawa! It’s somewhat grey here but it’s a cozy day, not cold, not hot, just a nice 12 degrees celcius. On the 10-day forecast, I can see that London and my area will be floating a good 6 or 7 degrees above Ottawa, never reaching freezing point at night. In the meantime, you’ll be getting tutted at by your friends for not having your winter tires on yet. You know, black ice? Yeah, that near-invisible annoyance that makes you slip off the Queensway and into the slushy ditch! We’ll probably get that twice this winter, and our bosses will give us their benediction to “work from home” on those days rather than make us go out in that slushy mess.

I’m about to go buy a new winter coat, but this time, I can choose it because it looks good, rather than because of its warmth factor. Because I won’t need to worry about the cold. Minus 5 at the coldest point of winter isn’t anything to write home about, is it?

No more slush, no more struggling through snowbanks to make it to the busstop, and no more frozen eyeballs on the way to school!

Ottawa winter, sorry to say, I won’t miss you. Not the least tiniest little bit at all!

Best regards to you and your road-salting trucks,
Vero