It’s snowing. Not much, a few flakes here and there, but enough to notice from my window seat on the 17th floor. I can see it, there it is. Snow.

And so now I can say with certainty that it’s officially hockey season. I saw the white stuff, ergo the game must be on.

You know, it’s funny how much context plays a part in my perception of sports. To me, sports need that feeling, that vibe. Many of my most memorable sporting venues fit perfectly in their surrounds, here's some that come to mind:

Outdoor Rink in Portage-Du-Fort – Portage is a small riverside town on the Quebec side of the Ottawa Valley. It’s not much at first, pretty small,  I’ve only been there countless times because it’s on the way to two of our cottages. Last time I was there in the winter though, they still had an outdoor rink - which they still used for league games! It’s far from fuzzy, and usually farther from warm, but you can’t help but smile when you see it.

Ivor Wynne Stadium – A black and yellow steel structure in the middle of Hamilton. It’s tough, its cold, its ugly. But add a near-freezing rainstorm to a Tiger Cat football game and in some bizarre way, its well worth the time. Definitely not for everyone, but definitely in context.

Surfing the Outer Banks, NC - Find a spot a stretch of beach with a sandbar break where no one else is in sight (amazingly, the banks is one of the few ocean beaches you can still accomplish this fairly easily). Paddle out about 40 yards. Sit and wait for the waves to come. If they come, it’s the purest form of sport there is. If they don’t come, it’s no problem. Just watch the shore, the water, time going by. Enjoy.

(just as an aside, the complete opposite of good context is the golf mentality. On those same sandy dunes and roaring ocean waves on the banks, there are bright green golf courses. Alien grass, collared shirts. It’s an old man in a bubble. The golf mentality is afraid of context, it’s tired and scared and hides in the safety of Walmart-esque uniformity. The world is a blank canvas, on to which the same green grass can spread like the plague. The golf mentality made Orlando, and is making places like Puerto Vallarta into Orlando part II. The golf mentality wants to go to a location, but has to make sure it can bring its own reality)

Wrigley Field – It’s almost impossible to distinguish between the stadium and the neighborhood begins. You’re not at a baseball game, you’re inside Wrigleyville. I could spend all day there.

I guess it’s mentionable that sometimes context can take a back seat, thinking specifically of the reclamation projects that created football and baseball stadiums in Cleveland and Detroit (in stark contrast to the surrounding blocks) to feel good results, but I think those are the exceptions and not the rule. Generally speaking, it has to be about the context. I’m a sucker for the scene.