On Wednesday it snowed in Toronto. It wasn\u2019t a big deal, but when you\u2019re inside looking out and listening to all the calamitous reports, it\u2019s easy to drink the Kool-Aid and think the city is coming to an icy end. With that in mind, I called a cab instead of walking the 15 minutes to a nearby restaurant.<\/p>\n

When I got into the taxi I was startled by how pleasant it actually was outside. The weather, if I had to describe it, was rather gentle and I was entirely embarrassed to have thought there was some sort of storm thundering around outside.<\/p>\n

I told this to the driver, explaining that I was originally from Ottawa where winter was a bare-knuckled punch to the face and there, I wouldn\u2019t have even noticed this little snow shower. He laughed, \u201cYeah, I know what you mean, man. I\u2019m from Calgary and winter is a different game altogether. I used to be a trucker out there and often when you\u2019re driving, you\u2019re in the wilderness, and when you come across the mountains, well, I tell you, it\u2019s something else. It\u2019s like they have their own weather systems. You\u2019re alone on the road and you feel absolutely tiny before them, and all around you, everywhere you look, just blankets of snow, snow covering everything! I actually found it eerie, and when a storm swept in off one of those mountains, oh boy! Suddenly, and I mean this, you couldn\u2019t see a thing, complete whiteout, and there was nobody there to help you! Just keep your hands on the wheel, \u00a0your eyes open, hope there\u2019s no avalanche. It really felt like nature was just going to swallow you up and vanish you from the face of the earth. And keep in mind, I was driving a huge rig, but hell, that was just a toy in comparison. I swear, I never felt so vulnerable or mortal, and after awhile I couldn\u2019t take it, which is why I took up driving a cab. I feel safe in the city, this,\u201d he gestured to the outdoors, \u201cthis shit is nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The bus negotiates the winter night:
\na flickering ship in the pine forest
\non a road as narrow and deep as a dead canal.<\/p>\n

Few passengers: some old, some very young.
\nIf it stopped and switched off its lights
\nthe world would be deleted.<\/span><\/p>\n