Jogging in Montreal's first snowfall.

It's not often I leap out of bed but when I saw some white stuff out the bedroom window I ran straight to the phone. "Merry Xmas" laughs my jogging partner. Er ... I think I'll take a few photographs and forget about the run, I say. Are you kidding? we have to run - this is winter, she says.

Of course we're still going running.

 Of course I was forgetting for a moment that I have to act like a Canadian now and not be such a British wimp. We ran in the snow all previous winters so why not now - in Montreal's first snowfall? But where are my leggings,  waterproofs, long socks, balaclava?

 All probably still in the basement. There is a lot of work involved in going out in a Montreal winter - this is just the first day and I'm complaining already. So off we go and jog through the snow - it feels like a sandy beach and we decide it is better for your joints than concrete (how's that for optimism?)

 No-one bats a frozen eyelid, not even the lollipop lady who poses for a picture. Next to her a little girl is making angels in the snow. Now I am remembering what a Montreal winter feels like all over again. This is my fourth and I still feel a mixture of excitement and nervousness . The world is suddenly a silent one and the flat feels extra cozy.

 I don't know how but there is even a smell in the air now we are cocooned in heavy snow. I wander around the house trying to work out what it is. I think it smells like Xmas.

Just another 5 months and it'll all be over.