I went to bed last night, and as my eyes adjusted to the dark I realised it wasn’t that dark. I peeked out the windwos, and sure enough there was a carpet of white. I’d gotten home three hours earlier, and it was dry – and windy. It blew in pretty quickly.
Looking out the front door, it seems there’s just an inch or so. I’ll have to go out later with a ruler. When I look out the back doors the deck looks like it’s covered three or four inches. The snow covers the handle of the Webber grill.
sigh I’m going to have to try to find chains for the Prius. Not for this dusting, but for the season. Then it will be a drill of putting the chains on, driving five miles to the freeway, and taking off the chains for the commute to work. Or I could start driving the Jeep, which gets less than half the fuel mileage. My Alden 405 boots will get less wear. Smooth leather soles and ice don’t play well together. Ditto my 1936-pattern fleece-lined flying boots. On the other hand, I bought some cross-country skis last year that haven’t been used yet. I’ve never used XC skis, so this season looks like the one where I’ll learn.
The forecast is for an unseasonal north-easterly setting in over the next few days here in the UK, which might bring the first snow. I hope so, I love snow (and it is rare enough here that it’s an enjoyable novelty rather than a pain in the arse).
Well, I’m about to go shovel my 200 yards of sidewalk for the fourth fucking time in four fucking days. I did a good scraping yesterday and got them down to bare pavement, so of course it fucking snowed again last night. Fuck.
I like snow. Used to be I looked forward to skiing. (I do need to get back into it.) But I hate having to shovel the walk, cleaning it off the vehicle, slipping in ice (especially with two injured knees), and having to drive the less efficient vehicle.
I don’t get the mindset of people who live somewhere that snows. I really don’t. I’ve never lived in a place that snows, nor will I ever move to such a place
It doesn’t snow that much here. Sometimes, but it usually doesn’t stick around long here at sea level. La Niña year this year though, so it’s likely to be a white one.
It’s a combination of whee! snow! and horrors! snow! for those of us on the west coast. I’m in the whee! snow! camp, because I grew up in BC’s interior and am used to winter being white.
I like the snow. The way it changes the landscape, makes the night so bright, and it’s just wintery.
I do not like the way people who are not used to the snow react when it arrives. Bad, bad driving.
Shovelling is on my schedule today. Probably the fourth time too; I haven’t been counting. But what I’ve really found maddening about this past week’s snow is that it hasn’t stopped–I’ve needed my car a lot lately, and the car has always had to be brushed off, no matter how brief the errand has been.
Same down here, last night. Forecast for today was 2-12 inches, depending on report… Just a light dusting is sticking right now; the dirt pokes through in places.
A winter with snow is not so bad if you’re prepared for it, and understand what it requires–for example, you know that it’s going to be cold and you’ll need warm clothes, that the snow needs to be cleared from your walks and driveways, and that the car needs to be warmed up before you can drive it. Winter driving itself requires a different skill set than warm-weather driving, and most (but not all) drivers tread carefully during the early snowfalls.
But it is also nice to live in a place that enjoys all four seasons. Yes, summer is nice, but there is something about watching the land prepare for its winter sleep (fall colours!), and about watching it awaken again in the spring as things gradually turn green and the songbirds return. And winter itself, while occasionally a PITA, brings its own charms: snow gives a unique beauty to the landscape; and it also deadens sound, so winters tend to be quieter than other seasons.
I have to grudgingly admit that there is beauty in snow, too. I was just standing at my window looking out at the (weak, low in the sky) sun, and it was making all the ice crystals in the air sparkle. My windows are all covered in intricate frost patterns, too.
Says the guy who lives in a place where sulfuric acid constantly rains down, and the cyclopean buildings with non-Euclidian geometry aren’t enough to protect you.
I absolutely loved South Dakota in the winter time, when it got so cold the snow would squeak when you stepped on it. When it was bitter cold at night and when there were no clouds in the sky and the stars burned like jewels and looked so close you thought you could touch them. When it was absolutely still late at night with no wind at all and the cold was just amazing. I did love it and I often think of returning to finish my time there. But I also remember when the wind was howling and the blizzards were blowing the snow parallel to the ground and I remember shoveling driveways and sidewalks and I remember scraping ice off the windows of my car and I remember slipping and falling on ice covered sidewalks and I remember how South Dakota has a very low tax base and often lacks the money to plow even major highways and I decide to just die in Florida, in comfort and in the best of health. But the choice isn’t always easy.
