The snow in the first week of 1999 was of such intensity that airports in Chicago, Toronto and New York City were closed. This meant that other North American Airports were severely backed up. Flying back from Montreal, I had to stay overnight in the Calgary Airport before returning to Edmonton.

Naturally, the airline had lost my luggage, but this was a good thing. I was able to make my way luggage-free from the airport to the University in time for meeting at which I was required (while my bags were delivered to my house). After the meeting, the snow was of such intensity that some guy from a local news program was sauntering about campus with a cameraman interviewing people with the simple question "What are the good points of having this much snow?".

This is a question us of the south-enough-to-afford-a-hockey-team but north-enough-to-be-the-location-of-bad-Chevy-Chase-movies-about-snow must ask ourselves. (My reply was "When you're late, you have an excuse, and when you talk about the weather, you actually have something to talk about.")

With weather this bad (and sometimes far worse) why do we stay here? I have taken it upon myself to tackle this question.

First of all, my family is here. What would life be if I could not see my loved ones whenever I wanted to? Best ask that question of the career-oriented folk who move south; I have always had those whom I call home close at hand, and they provide more than enough warmth.

We cannot ignore the cost of living here, either. While heating may be pricey at times, rent is sweet, and the price of a warming beverage is better than acceptable. Realtors are known to say "Location, location, location!" and hey, our admittedly lousy location means unbeatable prices.

The political situation here is not bad. The majority of the countries of the world are not fed up with us (which is more than we can say of one of the many countries with which we share a border). No assassinations, revolutions, or martial law, and the only riots involve idiots who get their national pride from watching too many televised beer commercials. Arctic climes cause admirably low crime rates; low-lifes cannot be bothered to freeze their fingers-off.

There is a certain hardiness that comes with living in this area. We are not flaky wimps. We take our joy when and where it comes, and things need doing, we get them done. We are tough, unlike Victoria, B.C., a city which nears a state of emergency at the first sign of frost.

But our tough shell does not mean a callous interior. Quite the contrary in fact; when the weather lightens up, we really, really appreciate it. Boy do we ever milk the life out of summer too, eh? (Speaking of it, "eh" is another great part of Canada. It is definitely something to enjoy.)

Living in a dark, cold, barren wasteland for months on end brings about a certain introspection. A peaceful glow by the fireside or good times shared by friends at a local music gig are hardly rare at this time of year. And have you noticed that the many of the industrialised nations are wintry ones? Perhaps because it is a lot easier to work with a blizzard beyond your door. Remember studying for finals at spring-time?

You see, even apart from the roots we may have sunk in this vast, flat land, there are many reasons to stick around. So buck-up, camper, and even at your lowest Seasonal-Affective-Disorder low, never forget that that camping season is just around the corner.