It’s no wonder that we Canadians are sometimes considered strange. One minute we’re too hot, the next, too cold, and the worst feeling of all... it’s become TOO DARN HUMID!!

Once we were described as “hardy and outdoorsy,” especially if we are/were capable of partaking in outdoor activities, such as cross-country skiing in mid-winter when snowfalls could be very heavy.

Now, even when we try to adapt to the new temperatures, we’re suddenly awash from a seemingly mild rainy day into a flood within our own dwellings, whether it’s a basement’s rising flood or an outside garden seeping dirty water through the back door.

Mud is no longer considered just occasional dirt. During damp weather – and we’ve had plenty – the dark grainy intruder thrives close to and within our front and back doors, then edges away only over time. Soon, people return home with their shoes carrying more sand.... a silent household signal so we can sweep up yet again.

But being “Good Canadians,” we just complain and carry on. It’s part of our Canadian heritage, even if we come from all parts of the globe.

So, as we officially, but languidly, move into fall in mid-September after a hot and sweaty, but wet summer, the weather continues to confuse us. Mid-August, just as many young people were returning from their summer jobs at camps across the country, the fall weather arrived, and summer felt over. For a week – and then it got hot again.

And it looks like we won’t drop down to single digit weather until November. That’s great for those who like to sit outdoors to dine, or who walk/bike to work. But is that the norm?

However, most people I know are still denying and/or are confused by climate change, as if some other cleverly scheming factor has turned our “naturally” expected weather response to OFF.

Meanwhile, if our southern neighbours choose to come here for our natural waters, our clear drinking water and our truly Great Lakes, we’ll be able to proudly provide them with more natural water than most other countries have ever seen.

Unless we foolishly decide to sell it off to the Americans.

No way! We brave Northerners know the value of all five of The Great Lakes: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario, forming the largest fresh surface water system on Earth.

Once, Americans and other visitors to Canada enjoyed the advantages of hot summers. Did they worry about the future, read up on climate change, believe they were invulnerable to getting sunburned when they water-skid? Not likely.

I’m no scientist, just a Canadian who was born here, who played in and shovelled fresh snow ever since I was a youngster. Overdressed in a snowsuit, boots, heavy woolen socks and mitts, with an attached hoodie over my head and all of it wrapped with a scarf - “normal” outdoor clothing for our winters.

Also, don’t forget the many wooden sleds that had to be dragged up a hill by children like me, or our tired parents, or along a trail after every ride. Not to mention toboggans whizzing by downhill, its riders falling over and rolling in the snow. In those days (and still sometimes) that was called hilarious fun, certainly not climate change.

So, maybe all the factors currently affecting our environment are calling for more of us to pay a lot more attention to where we live and how best to benefit from, or adapt better to our home-base locales, wherever it’s possible.

Canadians, Americans, and everyone spread out across the world, we are all part of global change, like it or not, humid or not.

Our children and grandchildren’s generations also face these changes. And they also need, as we certainly do, to develop greater understanding of where it’s all going to lead.

Though we may not all be here long enough for learning and understanding the many layers of research that’ll surely follow, nor for timely scientific experts to complete their essential studies, experiments and conclusions which also follow, given the changes that we see, and experience what is already happening.

So, learn as much as you can consciously handle about ongoing climate-change realities. Get informed from the scientific communities’ beliefs regarding those facts. After all, while most of us don’t want to be freezing very often, many others among us aren’t crazy about sweating, either.