The sun is  low in the sky. Some days it seems like it never rises above the horizon. The rays of light track through the trees drawing long shadows. The only sound is the crunch of my foot steps. No birds, no animals, no people. Everything and everyone is simply waiting for the end of this freezing cold.

Here in Calgary, we are in the midst of a covid crisis and to add insult to injury, freezing cold conditions for the last half of January and the first half of February.

This is the coldest winter that I ever remember in Calgary. Today the temperature was minus 20. With the windchill, it is the same as minus 30. Still we bundled up in our warmest clothes, winter hiking boots, toques, mittens and masks to brave the cold. We went down to Bowness Park, where kids were skating on the pond and the ice track.

The Bow River today was black, mostly covered with ice. The snow was soft and beautiful, ideal for cross country skiing if it weren’t so damn cold.

People are more friendly when its so cold. Probably because there are so few people out an about. They nod and wave.

There is just one thing. Spring is but a few months away.