Cold Comfort

As a snowy white blizzard  blasts into my world, it changes. Colours, shapes, textures, temperatures, even smells.

There is more, and there is less. More intensity, less lingering.

More softness . Less definition

More shades of gray. Less of every other colour.

This wintery white world envelopes us, and dictates changes

that we must make to survive it.

It slows us down. Insulates. Isolates.

Makes us late.

Until we learn to leave earlier.

Which we do. We slowly adjust.

The first day is always the worst. The topic on everyone's tongue.

Why does - 5C feel  frigid in December,  and downright balmy in March?

Imagine getting used to that!

But we do.

We  are proud to be part of this northern land.

And it gives us cold comfort in return.

Something's Happening Here

But it just ain't exactly clear...

Perhaps if I'd paid more attention in Brownies or Girl Guides I would know what kind of  animal wiggled his cute little butt across the snow, hip hop drag the tail and into the hole I go style. A mouse? A mole? A mink?

During the winter my commute to work generally takes about 15 minutes down a snowy road, bordered by trees. It is not unusual to see wildlife...deer, fox, bear, porcupine, skunk, raccoon, sable (once), beaver, otter, squirrel, coyote.  It's often a fleeting view of the animal as it races off into the woods, unless, of course, it's a porcupine who really doesn't care if you're heading his way or not,  because he knows you're not going to pick him up and try to cuddle him.

But in the dead of winter, such as the case is now, I see all sorts of evidence of animal life in the snow, and frankly, it's driving me a little nuts...look!

I think this is an owl print. The owl spots its prey, praying in the snow, not to be seen by an owl, and BAM! Owl dives down, wings outspread, grabs the poor little mouse, and flies off with lunch. That's what I think...but I could be completely wrong, because when we were learning this stuff in grade five, I was busy trying to make it look like I had breasts and pulling my sweater tight so Tommy Cavanaugh would notice me. Boy, was I concentrating on the wrong stuff! Now, check out these tracks...

Let me explain- this is an area about the size of a piece of plywood ,

so 4' x 8'. Look  at all the tracks! There's at least three different kind, and I don't have a clue who made what, or what made which, and it bothers me! I should know this stuff for some odd reason. Or I should know a track interpreter who can tell me about this party to which I wasn't invited!

This one is a larger version of the very first photo...bum chuckerucka, bum chuckerucka.. I ask myself, what animal moves like this? Bounce on bum, drag the tail. Again and again and again, creating a giant zipper in the snow. And I don't have a clue! And we're not done here yet!

So beastie # 1 went for a short spin, did a wheelie, came back and sat down. And watched while his buddy came over, said hello, and left the way he'd come. Coyotes? Wolves? Aliens?

Now THIS one I know...

It's a deer track. Definitely! And I know this because I actually saw the young deer that made the track ...as I was pulling over to take his picture, he made tracks and left.

And I THINK that this is a fox...

 It's definitely canine, and it's too small to be a big dog, and I just want it to be a fox. So be it.

I'm really not sure where this need to know comes from, but everytime I see a trail leading off into the bush, I want to stop and follow it.

I wonder where they're going, what they're doing, and what they are exactly. But I can't. I have to keep going, get to work, do stuff, and be human.

 It's my nature.

XCIX

Coming up with my 99th post has been very difficult!  For the past several days I have struggled with finding a proper theme, something witty to say, something appropriately commemorative. And last night I even dreamed about the number "99" . First there was Wayne Gretzky (famous Canadian hockey player) and then, sadly, that old camp song nugget, " 99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer, if one of those bottles should happen to fall, there'll be 98 bottles of beer on the wall." As I woke, I was actually humming this! I even googled "ninety nine". There's a lot of odd things called  '99':  Women Aviationists; a Korean slasher video; a  not so famous rock group....nothing too exciting actually, which is probably a good explanation for why I have had such a time of it! Maybe it's the 33 threes that make up the number that means it's dull and avoid it.

 I live in a picture postcard world these days, and there's no getting around it.

I regularly walk out my door and am immediately awed by what nature has

done during the night.

 There are more than 99 branches on this tree.

This is just one of more than 99 poses that my daughter can strike while she counts how many branches there are.

The snow will likely cause this oak leaf, and 99 million more just like it to finally shake their mortal coils, and fall at last to the ground.

There are at least 99 shades of white and blue and gray and red in this pretty as a picture scene.

I look at this river at least 99 times a day. And I never tire of the view- which changes at least 99 times a day.

The First Snow

Several years ago I read an interesting thriller by Peter Hoeg entitled Smilla's Sense of Snow.  It was set in Denmark and Greenland and what struck me while reading it was the many different kinds of snow that revealed clues about a murder.  I'd never really thought about different kinds of snow before, although that's odd for a Canadian who spends about five months of the year dealing with the fluffy white stuff. 
We northern climate dwellers spend an inordinate amount of time talking about the weather. And today, as the first snowfall of the season fell around us, the chatter turned to snow in all its variations. I agreed with the Treasurer who stated firmly that we all love the first snow...until we get to the age that we are the ones sent outside to shovel it. And it's true. Today it fell gently around us, and you could almost hear the jingles warming up to start the bells of Christmas!
The Operations Department Manager called today's snowfall "white rain". It took less than 5 seconds to process that it meant he wouldn't have to arrange for any snow plowing or sanding of the roads and sidewalks, because it was melting on concrete and asphalt surfaces. This kind of snow makes really good snowballs  as it sticks tightly together in your hands, and holds its shape when thrown at your friends or enemies. It's too wet for snowmen, and there isn't enough of it on the ground...which is still warm(ish) and preventing accumulation.

Tomorrow, all this snow will be gone. In time though, within weeks, there will be sugar snow, that is slippery and dangerous on the roads. Powder, which is excellent if you happen to be at a ski resort. There will be skiffs of snow, and crystal snow, and yellow snow. And there will be drifts, mounds, mountains and dumps of it.
 Ah snow.

For today, the sky was beautifully soft and grey. And we all took a private moment and watched as nature blanketed our world with her cold and beautiful duvet.