I’m nearly exactly due south of Winnipeg, actually… by about 1200 miles.
Yes, yes it is.
snerk
Snowing like mad right now in Calgary. Winter tires went on a couple weeks ago and I did a belated yard clean up yesterday so yay me. My new house is a corner lot with about 53 m / 175’ of sidewalk. High of 6 today so it should be gone when I get home so I won’t be refining my shoveling technique just yet.
Believe me, we have been waiting here in California for this, it seems like forever. May it be the harbinger of a long snowy winter up there, with lots of lovely snowpack to melt slowly and perfectly in the spring to fill up the reservoirs and replenish the various aquifers. The drought should be so over!
Taking the afternoon off to get the last yard work done before your snow storm moves east!
I took yesterday afternoon off (yeh, working weekends the last few weeks) to get the vent controls of my vehicle’s heater working. Some things must not be put off before the deep freeze arrives.
According to NOAA you’re looking at needing about 5 years of above-normal snowpack to resolve the drought. Or a decade of “normal” snowpack. “Normal” snowpack being defined as what was normal in the wetter decades before the current and future less-wet ones.
What you and everyone else in CA are calling drought is (probably) the new normal.
First snow of the year today in Reno. 
Just bought a brand-new set of studded snow tires today, only to find out it’s going to be in the 50’s and 60’s this week in Maine. So I parted with my money a little too early, but after last November, I wanted to make sure I was ready.
For some reason as I get older I like winter more and more. The beauty of freshly fallen snow; the holiday season; Christmas decorations; eggnog and hot drinks by a cozy fire while watching the snow fall; the hockey season and ice skating; the quiet of having all the windows closed; all kinds of indoor cooking options where adding heat and humidity to the house is a good thing – yet through much of the winter the barbecue is still usable; ease of transporting groceries and leaving them in the car without worrying about heat spoilage; absence of flies and insects in general; ability to use the garage as a fridge for cases of spring water, cooling down leftovers, and even storing the occasional mini beer keg – the list goes on and on.
And no lawn mowing, but it’s replaced by snow clearing so it’s a wash.
The major negative is you’re really isolated from nature. I remember years ago arriving in the Caribbean from a Canadian winter and stepping out of the plane the first thing I noticed was that you could smell nature in the air – the greenery, flowers, and the sea all made themselves tangibly felt. In fact, nature takes on a beauty of its own in winter, but it’s a remote kind of beauty.
Well, I can dream, can’t I?
Housing prices are still skyrocketing around here. I just don’t get it. If I hadn’t bought when water wasn’t a problem, I sure wouldn’t be buying now, with the prospects as you outline them. If I were smart I would sell out and move, but I don’t wanna go anywhere else!
In the winter it’s a heck of a lot easier to spot where animals have been. I see fewer (spring is the best time), but I can follow their tracks, see where they have fed, and see where they have rested.
I’ve not heard much from you about your walking problems recently.
Have they begun to resolve, or have you simply decided to suffer in silence?
I hope the former.