When Entry Island appears to be like a dessert topped with cream, it means winter is settling down on the Islands. All of a sudden, the sky is bigger. On some days, the sea covered in ice looks like an infinite plain that makes you want to walk until the deep end of the horizon. And the day after, there she is again, shinning bright, because the wind blew all night and she got her freedom back...
When we get them out of the water, the boats seem to grow. Some of them end up in a park near the workshop where they get freshened up. Others just lay beside houses where they nap under the snow until the last frozen days. In April, they all parade in the road behind a tow truck, which brings them back to the harbour one at a time. Cars follow behind, making traffic jams for you to see through your window while checking your calendar for the opening date of the fishing season. Looking forward to it, you count the weeks on your fingers.
Early in the morning, right before the sun rises, it is blue outside. This blue reminds you of your childhood colds — it is the same shade as the container of Vicks, the cream we apply on the chest or the soles of the feet. Through the window, you feel like you are inside a giant container of Vicks ... until the sun shines behind the hill.
A light breeze. The sun flows in the house and draws parallelograms on the wooden floor of the dining room. The cat is laying on it. Minus 5 degrees Celsius. A perfect day to let your laundry dry outside, on the clothesline. You better put gloves on, or your fingers will freeze when brining all the wet sheets inside a few hours later, which stiffened because of the cold. But it was all worth it — they smell so good! It is hard to resist the joy of hanging your laundry out, even in winter. At night, while closing your eyes in fresh sheets, a feeling that summer came back ... sooner than expected.
Put on a coat, heavy boots, and sometimes even snowshoes. Duck your neck in your shoulders and walk right there, in sand-looking snow banks that were shaped by the movements of the sea. In a few months, you will walk the same beaches wearing a breezy dress, barefoot, and eyes closed facing the wind. While you readjust your scarf, images of happy children running with a tiny crab between two fingers while being chased by a wet dog are dancing in your head. Beaches in winter are a strange phenomenon. Static, the sea sleeps under the ice. It is the most silent place on earth. A place where time freezes.
