Winter Charm

Hope you don’t mind if I cheat a bit and post the same photo here that I have up on my other blog — I know most of you only stop by here, and I really like this shot. It’s the view from my big leather club chair, my favourite reading spot ever. Usually, through the winter with most of the trees bare, it’s not such a pretty scene, and I prefer to face out to the water. But the sudden snowfall that kept me home on Monday really lends this view some charm, especially with the afternoon sun illuminating the roof of my neighbour’s guest cottage and outlining those tree branches.

If you’re from any of those places used to snow and cold all winter, you’re probably looking at those few centimetres and sneering at our West Coastal inability to tolerate real weather. What I have to point out, though, is the unfortunate location of my university on a hill coupled with the fact that we’re a commuter institution, with a significant number of students (and faculty and staff for that matter) living in neighbouring towns. There are some residences nearby, but they’re privately-operated and have only a small fraction of the student body living there.

At any rate, I wasn’t complaining about the closure on Monday and very much enjoyed having a day to catch up — almost enough that I might find time to tell you about Rigoletto later this week. Meanwhile, I’m bundling up as we still have a visiting Arctic front — odd to have the late light of summer evenings, thanks to the beginning of Daylight Savings Time, alongside snow and cold. . .