Winter is here...

My mind has gone numb... Blame it on the cold white world outside!

I'm one of those Canadians who would like to be a snowbird - and move to a warmer climate from December to March!

But not everyone is like me... Many Canadians enjoy snowshoeing, skiing, skating and even camping outdoors in winter. I read about one in the paper a few days ago ... camping on the river.

The story reminded me of a student I taught at the University of Ottawa a number of years ago. Several times a year the university offered free English and French courses to university personnel, so classes had an interesting mix of people - from academics to support staff (office workers, truck drivers, cleaning staff - anyone who worked at the university).

In the lower level class, we focused on speaking. So that first Monday morning, as the students introduced themselves, I asked them if they had done anything interesting on the weekend. The question usually created a long list of vocabulary words, as they all had different interests.

One grandmotherly-looking woman informed us that she had gone camping on the weekend.

As it was winter, I corrected her - thinking she had made a mistake with the word "camping." Camping is sleeping outdoors in a tent, I said, drawing a rough picture of a tent on the board. We go camping in the summer, and sleep in "sleeping bags," not beds...

The woman nodded vigorously: Yes, camping. She then proceeded to tell us that she had a special tent and special sleeping bag for the winter. Her husband liked ice-fishing, and she would go with him - spending most weekends camping - as long as the river remained frozen.

As usual, my students taught me as much as I taught them: I was reminded - again - not to "judge the book by its cover."

Yes, even older people, even grandmothers - who could be enjoying the warmth of their cozy homes - sometimes choose to go camping in winter... (But not me!)

(Yes, she was a grandmother, too!)