Our home is like a weaverbird’s nest—built with two doors. One is the main entrance, and the other leads to a small backyard. This backyard becomes our hub of summer joy—bursting with lush green vegetable gardens and lively barbecue gatherings.
On hot summer days, the children race to pick fresh green chilies from the plants, and they eagerly wait for mint leaves to prepare refreshing borhani throughout the season. The garden lady—our home’s gardening enthusiast—stays busy hand-pollinating bottle gourds and caring for spinach, Malabar spinach, hyacinth beans, tomatoes, ridge gourds, snake gourds, and sponge gourds. Often, she dashes from the kitchen to the garden to grab bottle gourd leaves or greens and puts them straight on the stove.
However, the back door is not just for garden access; it is also our emergency exit. Right next to it hangs a fire extinguisher—because extra caution and preparedness for any situation is a part of our faith, a Sunnah.
Preparing for Winter
As summer waves goodbye, winter sends its first message—trees shed their leaves, plants slip into dormancy, and our garden hibernates. That’s when our winter preparations begin.
The heating system, laundry vent—everything needs to be cleaned and checked. If necessary, we set up temporary sheds to prevent vents from getting clogged during heavy snowstorms.
At the start of winter, we shut off the water lines to both the front and backyards. If the water inside the pipes isn’t drained, the extreme cold can cause the pipes to burst, flooding the basement. A few years ago, a neighbor had to endure such a disaster.
Backyard Expedition in the Snow
During winter, occasional inspections are essential—to ensure everything is in order. A few days of snow, followed by today’s fresh snowfall, has buried the backyard under a heavy blanket of white! More snowfall is expected tomorrow as well.
By evening, my whole team—wife, son, and daughter—set out for a backyard inspection. Snow piled up to our knees! We pushed open the door, but the stairs had turned into a slippery slide. We had to clear the Emergency Exit.
Equipped with shovels and ice picks, we started working. We cleared the stairs and gathered the snow in one corner. Our little princess made a special request—she wanted us to build an igloo, just like we did years ago! We’ll see what can be done.
The backyard vents were covered in snow as well. We cleared them and built a small protective shed to prevent them from getting blocked again in the coming snowfalls. Still, we must stay vigilant.
By the end of it, we were exhausted but deeply content—Alhamdulillah.
Now, it’s time to embrace the snowy beauty of Canada. We were thinking of a trip to Sauble Beach tomorrow, but there’s a severe snowstorm warning… Let’s see what happens!
