Tuesday, November 29, 2005

The First Snow



It snowed last night for the first time this season--just enough to make the trees glisten and the streets slushy. Maybe two inches all told.

Alas, not enough to qualify for a paid snow-day off work. Even I, an unhappy driver in the snow, had to concede that the streets were not exactly unconquerable. Although it's sometimes amazing how a couple of inches of mucky slush is enough to stir chaos and close schools here on the West Coast. People from the Prairies just laugh at us.

It was very pretty anyway. The children at preschool enjoyed it. Well, until their mittens got soggy anyway.

Have you ever tried to wrestle twenty preschoolers into and out of snow-suits, hats, boots, the full winter-time ensemble? It takes some mental preparation.

You need to go deep inside yourself and find that small calm centre and take some deep breaths. Aaaahhhhhhh..... Ahhhh...

(AAAHHHHH!) "Where is your other boot?... Hmmm, your zipper is stuck... Who else needs to go pee?... Mittens are not for hitting. (AAAAHHHH!)

On the plus side, you are getting paid to help build a snow-man.

This is the snowy forest around our yard.



By the end of today I was weary, but I still enjoyed the walk home. More snow clouds may be gathering, but the late afternoon sun filtered through the mist and made the valley down below gorgeous and dreamy.



I live on one of many neighbourhood hills like this. My street would make such a perfect tobaggan run, don't you think?

13 comments:

blackcrag said...

I am surprised to hear you say the streets weren’t unconquerable? That mountain goat run that you call a street beside your house should have been too slippery for traction. Drive up it and slide twice as far back down it.

Your street would be a fantastic toboggan run. Especially for those committing suicide. You rip down the first part, speed through the flatter part beside your house, then get air time as the street drops away again a block down from you. You’d go whistling through the intersection (provided you didn’t try to share it at the same time as a 4x4), slide down another street that ends abruptly in a concrete divider. Your toboggan, hitting that divider, would flip you like a short order cook flips pancakes, right over the fence for a long drop into Farquharsons’ frozen fields. What part of that wouldn’t break a bone or three? Fun!

I love that last picture by the way. I tried to capture a similar shot the last time I visited your house, but it turned out too dark.

nicki said...

nice pictures :) i loooove the blue sky in the first one!!

Josh said...

Wow snow. I like to make snow ice cream…. yummy. Sadly we don’t get snow much down here in the Dallas area. When it does it is wet and dirty. Lucky you.

the Monk said...

u really do take some great pics...and my sister's pre-school days were not too long ago, so i think i can relate....

Mel said...

I am not a big fan of snow or cold or winter but your pictures could change my mind...they are breathtaking! Thanks for sharing!

BigBill said...

I can't wait to get snow here!1 it has been teasing us... A little dusting here, a little dusting there.... Nothing of significance yet.
Sound like a blast playing in the snow at work!!

Eric said...

We got dusted on Thanksgiving with about 1-2 inches: just enough to stick to the pine trees for that great winter look you've got in your pics.

Oh, and always struck me as funny how in some of the states we lived in, 2 or three inches of snow is enough to close schools, when up here, it would snow 6 and no one would care. I would think folks up near Vancouver where you are would be more used to it.

x said...

i'm so jealous! what a wonderful place. we are lucky if we have snow in Athens once a year.

Skye said...

We have some heavy looking clouds outside, I think they'll be rainning on us soon. Your pictures are really cool. I feel like hot cocoa now.

Puggyspice said...

Beautiful snowy photos. It's yucky to have to go out in slush and cold weather, but the snow in these pictures is lovely.

Weary Hag said...

What beautiful surroundings - lucky you!

I always get a kick out of seeing where fellow-bloggers live. Uh oh. You may have inspired me here ... I'll have to get out the camera and look for something pretty near my house. Our snow last week didn't last but half a morning, but it sure did look pretty.

Thank you for always leaving such neat comments at the Outpost! They do NOT go unnoticed and are greatly appreciated. I'm just old and slow. *sigh*

Anonymous said...

Those are amazing pictures!!

Tim Halberg said...

How I miss the snow. Haha... that's freaking awesome, you just need to toss your running hose out in the street overnight and voila, you have yourself that run ;-)