When my oldest daughter was small, about five I think, I made up a monthly calendar that we kept on the fridge; each day, she’d record the weather on it with a simple drawing. Since we lived in rainy Prince Rupertat the time (annual rainfall 241 cm. or 95 inches), I was surprised to see that Bronwen filled the calendar with an astonishing preponderance of circles with those charmingly-happy lines radiating outward. When I would ask her why she’d drawn the sun in that day’s square rather than the rain that had obviously fallen, she’d remind me that she’d played outside with her friend from next door in the fifteen minutes of sunshine that had happened before lunch. These days, she’s just as likely to grumble about the weather as the rest of us, but her child’s eyes let her see and grab the positive in each day.
Keeping her example in mind, I’m trying to find joy and beauty in the blizzard conditions we’re currently experiencing after the serious cold of the last two weeks and the snow we’ve already been trudging through for a week. It’s getting tougher, but I’m trying . . .
So please be patient with another batch of snow photos. These ones are from a few days ago, the same day I took these.
I’ve tried to plan colour in the garden for every season, so I favour plants that berry up for the winter. This arbutus uneda is perfect in the snow.
These are the rose hips of Rosa Complicata — so different from her June pink, fragrant beauty, but still striking.
And what kind of winter fruit is this tree bearing? Remember the guerrilla decorators I told you aboutlast year? the ones who Christmas-gussy up the neighbourhood. Their handiwork looks even more effective in the snow. This lovely tradition is at least five years old now, and I so appreciate the spontaneity and neighbourliness of it.
I did manage to find some cheer in the weather forecast this morning. Along with the snowfall warning, the forecast freezing temperatures, I thought I saw a warning that we were going to have Freezing Dribble — of course, closer inspection revealed we were being warned about Freezing Drizzle, but I’d already had my chuckle! Freezing Dribble is something to guard against, for sure!
Those are lovely. Hooray for the guerilla decorators!
All I can suggest for blizzard conditions is a good book, soup and single-malt scotch.
We’ve had blizzard too and it’s amusing to hear the drama some Torontonians exude over a foot of snow. We had a dinner party last night and used the snowbanks in the yard as ice buckets for our pre-mixed cocktails and champagne.
Lots of snow over there! The pictures are so beautiful. We have had a snowstorm twice so far,but none at the present. Not at all sure,if there will be snow at xmas on the southern parts of the country. I´m not missing it one bit. The only positive thing about it is that the dogs stay clean. The coldest we have had, was about -5C one night( so far).
Pseu: Good suggestions! I did end up making a big pot of soup, I’ve been dipping into new books, AND I’ve got a choice of some good single malts for sampling after dinner tonight. Could be worse . . .
Duchesse: Sounds like fun — and a good use of snow. I like to take advantage of this kind of weather to make ice molds for candles, then stick the resulting lanterns in snowbanks to welcome guests — so pretty!
Metscan: It’s true — our Golden is staying much cleaner with the snow as her only rolling material. -5 is what we’re up to now. The -19 I didn’t like at all!!
What lovely photos!
What lovely photos!
thanks Julianne — snow really does make for pretty pictures, even if it makes travel complicated.