I recently moved to the District of Summerland, a small, 11, 615 person) town in the Okanagan area of British Columbia. A place that I've only visited a couple of times during summer vacations. Yet, this was the place my family decided to call home. Perhaps I should have researched it better first.
Summerland. With vineyards and orchards. A beautiful lake. And warm, pleasant temperatures ideal for drinking wine in. In my past visits, getting into air conditioning was the main environmental concern. I mean, it says it on the tin, right. Summer-land.
It's now mid-October. And it's not summer any more. It’s cold. The nights are getting down to freezing levels, and the day's high is only in the 10 degree Celsius range. It's not quite the summer weather I was expecting. My new neighbours warned me about the snow. Besides telling me to watch out for the bear in the neighbourhood, some of the first advice I received was how to plow snow.
I've had to buy snow tires for the three vehicles in the family. And I'm looking for a plumbing specialist to help me blow out my lawn irrigation system to avoid damage from freezing.
And the other day, I purchased my first ever snowblower. It's a big beastie. 2-stage, metal-bodied, electric start, headlights, and even heated handgrips. With a bunch of hand controls for moving, turning, and throwing snow, a gearshift with 6 forward gears and two levers for moving the snow-throwing turret-like thing on the top of the machine, I look the part.
It looks like the evil animated villain from The Lawnmower Man movie. It's pretty intimidating, really! Unfortunately, I've got no idea how to work it.
I hope that by investing in this expensive piece of machinery, I'll anger the Gods of the Weather, and they will deem it sufficient punishment to not snow all winter long. At least, I'm hoping.
Tl;dr: Never believe the label on the tin. Summerland. Hmph.