I’m experimenting with a theory right now…

I think Canadians are 40% happier when the sun is out.

Where did I come up with this number? In my head. Stats are for boring people and I’m not boring. 65% of people would agree with that.

Ever notice when you drive to work that it’s easier to be down when it’s dull outside? I have. Now, I can’t recall as a child having my mood affected by the weather, but I married a girl who’s in touch with that sort of thing.

Erin needs sunshine.

I took her to Ireland years ago and it was brilliant. Granted I had this “I’m Irish” thing going on at the time and spent most of the trip moody because we were newly married and I didn’t know that most men get “Snacky” which is the same thing as being frustrated and unable to deal with life when we’re hungry.

Now when we travel Erin packs some bars for me which I rarely eat, but they help me relax knowing that I could if I wanted to.

Back to Ireland. I loved the trip. I loved it best when it was raining because it beat the heck out of Canadian rain which is mostly cold, vicious sleet and not fun to be out in at all. I still remember rain turning to hail at my childhood home and mom sending out the elder brother (me) into the fray to “Save my tomatoes!!!”

Perhaps my memory is still clouded in pain, but sheltering tomato plants from golf ball sized hail with my head wasn’t my favourite pastime. I went back inside in defeat and mom lost her plants. Was the hail that big? Probably not but my head wasn’t its current size either so I feel the comparables might not be that inaccurate.

The fine, non painful mists of Ireland were making me nostalgic one day so I suggested to Erin that we should go back there?

“I’d rather go someplace warm” she said. “If we’re going to spend money let’s go where there’s sun”… and we’ve been going to sunny places ever since.

Now before you feel too sorry for me having to deny myself Ireland by having a terrible time with my wife in warmer climates (another reason one should get good at budgeting), I’d much rather see the good it does for her soul.

She just loves the sun.

In other news, if the weather is gross there is definitely a 40% decline in cheerfulness.

In church news, every pastor in Canada absolutely dreads waking up to snow on a Sunday morning. His or her congregation’s resolve to worship together melts into a puddle of concerned self pity for how hard it will be to drive safely across town at 10:30 AM (it might still be dark outside!) and walk across a parking lot.

Every pastor would also like to point out that the same church member has driven through five days of blizzard-like conditions to go to work and then spent their Saturday in the mountains tearing through the same snow.

But Sunday? Heavens no!

When I wake up Sunday morning to sunshine I’m like “Church will be awesome today!”, unless of course it’s Summer in Airdrie where literally everyone leaves town for, well, the entire summer if they can.

“We’ve severely over scheduled our lives and need two months to feel normal again so that we can do the same thing in the Fall! Take that hockey! Take that work! Take that church!”

Why organize your life around your priorities when you can organize them around whoever sends you the most email?

But I’m not really complaining about that because the problems of life, family and our church don’t seem as important right now.

The sun must be out.