O is for "Only in Canada, You Say? Pity."

How is everything down south?
Enjoying your cherry blossoms and your golf courses?
Your gardens and your beaches?
This is how I spent my Sunday - outside with the family splitting wood, in a freakin' SNOWSTORM.
Yup, we Canadians are always trying to convince the rest of the world we don't live in igloos but then a snowstorm blows through town on the 17th of April and, well, all we can do is slit our wrists.
The funny thing is, winter's not done with us yet. It's been known to snow on Canada's first long weekend of summer, lovingly known around here as "May Two-Four" because it happens annually around the 24th of May, and because it's the Canadian way of saying "case of beer."
"Only in Canada, you say? Pity."
That expression, by the way, is as Canadian as a case of beer thanks to Red Rose Tea's marketing department. For years Red Rose ran TV commercials in which stodgy British upper class types tasted the tea and loved it, only to discover Red Rose was only available in Canada.
"Pity," they would say.
Yeah, yeah, it doesn't mean anything to you if you're from the land of cherry blossoms and sunshine. Here in the great white north, a cuppa tea is just the ticket when April showers are more like April blizzards.
By the way, this particular snowstorm is Dave's fault because he took the snow tires off on Friday.
That's how things work in the land of Red Rose and wood splitters. Pity, eh?

Angus is thrilled to help pile wood.
Thrilled. You can see it in his face.

Sam doesn't normally have white hair.
Look how happy he is to be involved in our family activities.

This is how much wood I've split in the last week.

Tin sign from the 1950s.

And the TV commercial: If you don't remember this, you're definitely not from Canada.