Yesterday was a bona fide snow storm; the ten-minute drive home from work took twenty minutes and my hands were cramped by the time I pulled into our driveway. So, to the guy in the large red pickup truck that came barrelling up behind me, what were you thinking? And no, I'm not going more than 50 km/hr on an unplowed road. Yeesh.
Halfway home, where the road curves into the opening of the river, a fox trotted out onto the road. When it finally saw me coming, it gave a little jump - 'Oh, what are you doing out on the roads in this weather?' - then leaped over the ditch and disappeared into the woods.
More snow today but manageable; pretty and wintery, not blustery and stressful. Speaking of which, I'm supposed to be planning my hand-outs for the editing workshop on Saturday but I can't stop staring out the window. Thick or light, I am a fan of snow. It is quiet and beautiful, not noisy and wet like rain. Already had the necessary walk in the snow but perhaps this loveliness calls for another indulgence.
Showing posts with label snow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label snow. Show all posts
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Sunshiney Day
What a gorgeous winter's day it is. Cold and sunny. So hard to stay inside and write when I want to be outside walking in the woods with the dogs. Must take down the Suggestion Box in the chicken coop, though. The chickens, desperate to be outside but hating snow, keep asking for boots.
It was minus 19 when I got up this morning at 7:30 (the dogs and cat allowing us to sleep in on Sunday). I wonder if we'll have any minus 30 nights like we did the first few years I lived down here. I remember coming home from a dance at the end of January and not being able to feel my feet, shod as they were in unsuitable little dancing shoes. At three o'clock in the morning, my husband and I were huddled under blankets in the living room, drinking tea and eating toast, watching the end of a movie on TV, as we waited for the re-stocked wood furnace to heat the house enough for us to go to bed.
It's hard to remember those deeply cold nights on a day like today. The sunshine feels so good, even the chickens are braving the snow to be outside.
It was minus 19 when I got up this morning at 7:30 (the dogs and cat allowing us to sleep in on Sunday). I wonder if we'll have any minus 30 nights like we did the first few years I lived down here. I remember coming home from a dance at the end of January and not being able to feel my feet, shod as they were in unsuitable little dancing shoes. At three o'clock in the morning, my husband and I were huddled under blankets in the living room, drinking tea and eating toast, watching the end of a movie on TV, as we waited for the re-stocked wood furnace to heat the house enough for us to go to bed.
It's hard to remember those deeply cold nights on a day like today. The sunshine feels so good, even the chickens are braving the snow to be outside.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas
Santa might be bringing me snow pants this Christmas (after four winters here, I'm finally wising up and dressing appropriately) but it doesn't sound like I'll be needing them any time soon.
Environment Canada is saying there is a less than 50% chance we'll have a white Christmas here in the Maritimes. We didn't have one last year either; I remember how mild it was because we were harbouring a stray cat under the sun porch (also known as the Stray Cat Hotel) and I didn't have to worry about food or water freezing (incidentally, just as the snow arrived in early January, she became our pet).
Anyway, according to the meteorologists at Environment Canada, there used to be a 63% chance of at least two centimeters of snow on December 25; now it's a mere 47%. Funny how we seem to think Christmas has to come with snow when most of the world that celebrates Christmas does it without snow; with blazing heat, in fact. Hello, palm trees and margaritas! Do you think anyone has ever suggested that Christmas be cancelled because there is no snow?! Christmas and snow do not go hand-in-hand; it just seems like it should here in Canada because, well, we're cold and northern and so gosh darn close to the North Pole where you-know-who lives. I mean, when Santa's in our backyard, it's like he's our neighbour. Wait - Canada has sovereign control over the Arctic, right? So that makes Santa and the elves Canadian citizens. Santa for Prime Minister!
But I digress.
The whole point of Christmas is the spirit, not the weather. It's "Ho Ho Ho and mistletoe and presents under the tree" as Lucy says in A Charlie Brown Christmas. And c'mon, you know how everyone would complain about the inconvenience for shopping if it snows any day between now and next Saturday night. Nothing sucks the life out of the holiday season like complaining. Christmas without snow is simply a lesson in humility: You can't have everything, and perfection is an illusion. Far better to believe in Santa Claus.
Environment Canada is saying there is a less than 50% chance we'll have a white Christmas here in the Maritimes. We didn't have one last year either; I remember how mild it was because we were harbouring a stray cat under the sun porch (also known as the Stray Cat Hotel) and I didn't have to worry about food or water freezing (incidentally, just as the snow arrived in early January, she became our pet).
Anyway, according to the meteorologists at Environment Canada, there used to be a 63% chance of at least two centimeters of snow on December 25; now it's a mere 47%. Funny how we seem to think Christmas has to come with snow when most of the world that celebrates Christmas does it without snow; with blazing heat, in fact. Hello, palm trees and margaritas! Do you think anyone has ever suggested that Christmas be cancelled because there is no snow?! Christmas and snow do not go hand-in-hand; it just seems like it should here in Canada because, well, we're cold and northern and so gosh darn close to the North Pole where you-know-who lives. I mean, when Santa's in our backyard, it's like he's our neighbour. Wait - Canada has sovereign control over the Arctic, right? So that makes Santa and the elves Canadian citizens. Santa for Prime Minister!
But I digress.
The whole point of Christmas is the spirit, not the weather. It's "Ho Ho Ho and mistletoe and presents under the tree" as Lucy says in A Charlie Brown Christmas. And c'mon, you know how everyone would complain about the inconvenience for shopping if it snows any day between now and next Saturday night. Nothing sucks the life out of the holiday season like complaining. Christmas without snow is simply a lesson in humility: You can't have everything, and perfection is an illusion. Far better to believe in Santa Claus.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
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