Winter preparations

Coming from a tropical country, I had no idea that people prepared for winter. As you all know, I spent a year in Berlin, a city that is said to have a terrible winter for tropical standards. But there the season was less intense and definitely less white.

A few weeks ago I began to notice differences in the landscape of Montreal. People were getting ready for the snow that will inevitably come at some point. I have not seen such preparations in Berlin. Maybe because the incidence of snow is lower, but the fact is that the only difference I saw there was people changing normal tires for winter tires and fountains being covered by wooden fences. Here in Montreal is different.
I live in a good residential area with many houses and buildings with only three apartments. Maybe that's why it was easier to observe people's behavior during the change from summer to autumn, and now for the winter. One day, walking down the street, I realized that a house had a kind of a white tent coming out of the driveway. Later I learned it's called a temporary winter garage. I found it strange. On the following weekend almost all houses and buildings had these same garages. The funny things are the basement apartments, the apartment entrance is surrounded by a tent and it seems that you are entering into a scenario of movies like "Outbreak ". Plants are protected, stairs receive rubber flooring, handrails and floors of balconies are exchanged and where they didn't exist, placed.
     When the snow finally shows up, it's possible to perceives other things. In buildings, each person is responsible for snow removal on their own balcony and in the public areas the responsibility lays on the person in charge of the building (i.e. the landlord). In houses, of course, each one deals with snow as they like. In front of my bedroom window there's a beautiful house where an old couple lives. Everyday that snows a red car arrives around 9:00, and from it comes out a guy "armed" with shovel, broom and a type of wheelbarrow made ​​especially for snow. He cleans the house entrance, the path to the sidewalk, the garage, shakes the top of the temporary winter garage and cleans the exit from the garage to the street. Then he drives away.
I never saw him talking to the home owners, I think he is a person hired to do this service for those who are tired of doing it for many years.
      So far I have not seen a difference in the behavior of Montrealers simply because the season has changed, as it's visible in Berlin. Here, there is no seasonal bipolarity. I keep seeing the smiles on the streets, happy people tidying up gardens, doors and windows for Christmas, and kids jumping at each and every mound of snow that appears on their way. Neighbors greet each other, play, laugh out loud and share coffee while removing snow from the front of their homes. On the streets, pedestrians look at each other and laugh because they are only with their faces uncovered (and many times only their eyes). Strangers cross your way and say with a smile on their faces: " froid , huh?". And me? Simply loving it all.