Winter Question

Question:

Do you prefer experiencing a longer colder, snowy winter season or are you of the opinion that winter should remain in the far north?

Winter Wonderland

Well, I never thought I would experience a winter snow like this. -10 right now in Hope. Glorious! I love the snow and I love having a definite winter season to enjoy. Last night our friends Pat and Peggy and us went for a late night walk in the snow. Throwing snowballs, enjoying early Christmas light decorations and knocking snow off power lines were among our exploits. I truly do enjoy this season. Doesn't make driving safe but that's o.k.. Home is a great place to be too.

I was out in the weather and visiting some friends who were having people over newly arrived from South Africa. This particular lady and her young daughter had never before experienced snow. And they were having a great time sledding down the driveway :).

Snow

This is today, November 24th, 2006. It started to snow this morning and hasn't stopped in Hope here. Big fat flakes that are wet and sticky.

I love the snow. It is a compelling mystery the affects that snow seem to have on people. For myself, I see a beautiful blanket that has many affects on a community. Many do not enjoy the snow, especially driving in it. My mother is one such. Children (in Canada, at any rate) thoroughly love building forts and snowmen and playing in it. Men like to pee in it. We like to slide on it down mountains on flat pieces of wood.

It also has the affect of dampening sound. Much of the noise in a city or town is dampened to silence because of the soft cushioning snow has on the environment. It's a beautiful silence of white. People tend to slow down, close schools and businesses, start a fire, read a book with a cup of hot chocolate. It is the essence of a Canadian winter and the weather's way setting us up for the advent of Christmas.

Here my wife and I are on a street in Victoria sometime around 2:00am. It snows only very rarely in Victoria and this was one such time so we took advantage of it to go walking under the street lights in the early morning enjoying each others company and the newfound delight of snow (that, consequently, only lasted a day). For what other weather do we get excited about like that? Well, in Victoria it's a novelty.

Snow is good for us. It slows us down. It quiets us and gets us to look at our surroundings for a while. It encourages to feel like children and to go playing again. It makes me appreciate my home and family warm inside. For some reason, a fire and hot chocolate and a book are 10 times better when it's snowing outside. Strange. Enjoy the snow!

So I got the shot ...

O.k., o.k., I got the shot. But I had a good chat with the doctor before he stuck me. So, apparently, newborn babies have virtually no immune system to speak of (not unlike old folks later in life) until a few months into life where, by the time they've had a chance to breast feed for a while, they acquire their mothers' defense against disease. So, really, if they got the flu, though they would likely acquire a quickly active immune system, it would be very hard on them and there's a greater likelihood that they would die of pnuemonia or some other complication often as a result of the ordinary flu. At six months of age they recommend giving the child the flu shot themselves. So now I've got the flu shot.

And for those who think I'm a wimp, I'll have you know I have many an antibody floating in my body due to shots. Tetanus, mumps, Hep A, Hep B, Menningococcal, Yellow Fever, Typhoid. And I have given blood ... once. I figured Jesus gave his blood for me, the least I could do was give some blood to someone else. I think my blood is 0+, but I'll have to confirm that with my mother.

The picture is, what I believe to be, a red blood cell, a macrophage and a t-cell. The latter two are a part of the immune system. But my doctor friends can correct me if I'm wrong.

To be shot, or not to be shot

The Flu shot. How indicitive of our nation. I would like your reaction to my feelings about it.

Persnally, for the majority of the population, I believe it is redundant to receive the flu shot. The flu does not (most usually) kill people. Those who are most at risk are the elderly and very young children. According to health Canada some 4 - 8 thousand elderly people die a year due to the flu or flu related symptoms or complications. That's a hefty sum, I suppose.

Now, my wife (who is probably right), believes I should get the flu shot before our child is born (consequentially, my wife has already received the flu shot, and therefore, so has our little unborn child). This to reduce the risk of giving our little newborn the flu, should we get the flu.

My beef is this: Does not the body naturally build immunity by going through illness?? How will my little child build antibodies to defend itself if he/she is protected as such. I'm not saying I WANT my child to get sick, or plan on slobbering all over it when I get the flu! Far from it. But a child's environment are what prepare them for defending themselves against infection. At least, that's what I was taught. I've even been given the advice to let my child eat dirt! Because it helps their bodies produce immunity to disease! Am I not delaying the inevitable by getting the shot?

Maybe I just don't want to get the shot. I don't really care if I get the shot or not, but my argument stands. To be shot, or not to be shot?