Winter Solstice is upon us. I know this is a very good thing. Even though I had never paid attention to winter solstice ever, this year is different. Living in Vancouver makes me look at things very differently. This day will be the shortest of the days. After the solstice, the days  grow  longer.

With an imperious swirl of her ermine cloak and a hiss of ice crystals in glittering hair, the Winter Queen officially resumes the throne in her icy palace at 9:47 a.m., Monday. In truth, this is just the culmination of a long coronation processional through the province. An irony, though — the formal commencement of her reign also marks the beginning of its end, for the days grow longer and the world begins to warm from the moment she ascends her throne.

The darkness is done with. I am not sure about the rain though. It seems like a permanent feature in this part of the world. I am hoping that I may be able to make peace with the rain and simply ignore it.  It takes a bit of training to look at the cold rain and say, it does not bother me. Last week it snowed for a couple of days. It was so beautiful to see the snow and for some reason, the sky is blue after the snow. Not the case with the rain. Rain makes everything grey and wet.

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Faster, stronger, higher — but not that high.

I feel like I am the only one excited about Olympics in all of Canada. Until now, I had never paid any attention to winter Olympics. When I notice the mammoth effort that goes into putting on a show like this, I am so impressed. Most of the locals I speak with seem to complain about this event. Road closures, budget cuts, yada yada yada. I believe some sacrifice is always needed for great things to happen. Anyway, I am looking forward for some Olympic fun.

It was early September morning. The last few days of the summer and the Sun here in Vancouver. I was having coffee at the chain coffee shop and getting ready for a walk in the fabulous Stanley park. I saw a lot of people jump out of a truck. They took a  lot of huge sculptures and were placing it on a patch of ground.

I went closer to have a look and found out this is a temporary art installation in Vancouver. They were funny!

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I had not seen the Sun in the last 13 days or so. I do Surya namaskars in the pitch black surroundings in the morning. Then it slowly turns dark grey and then it gets grey by 11 am. And, it rains non-stop here in Vancouver. I sometimes think I have moved to Cherapunji, the wettest place on earth.

The idea of not seeing the Sun for days and weeks is something new. The Sun came up briefly for an hour or so. Boy, was it nice. I had never longed for bright and sunny days ever until now. It was always a given for me. In India or in California. I do think the Sun is selectively partial to these places. Now that the Sun has become so precious, I celebrate every time it shows up briefly, as in once a month. It is a good day here, when it does not rain, even though it is dark  and cold.  If the Sun shows up then it is a bonus, an extra ordinary day. All definitions change with respect to place. But then I have to wonder if I am a real yogi if the presence of the Sun affects me so much.

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I listen to radio while preparing dinner. There was a mini quiz asking to guess which country has made it to Olympics, which is not really known for Winter sport. I was guessing some country from Africa. It turned out to be India. Shiva Keshavan was so funny, he made my day. He is a luge pilot, I had to look up what it was.

There is still no luge track in India, where Keshavan was born 28 years ago 2,500 metres up in the Himalayas.

“We use the natural facilities, the natural track,” Keshavan explained. “With a few friends we get together. You beat a ski course and you beat a luge course.”

Even after having competed in a few Olympics before, he says he simply puts together his own equipment. He is compared to the Jamaican bobsleigh team that competed in 1988 and went on to become the crowd favorite.

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Layers of clothes – check

Sweater – check

Fleece – check

Thick jacket – check

Woolen hat – check

Rain jacket – check

Gloves – check

Thick socks – check

Rain boots – check

Umbrella – check

This is life in Vancouver. Not bad, but takes getting used to. The locals here say, “Yeah it rains a lot, get over it”.