Snow, snow, go away, even though you're here to stay...

22:00 10 November 2009

I feel like one can judge the spirit of someone by their reaction to snow. If it is one of giddiness and excitement, they are young and full of hope; if it is gloomy and disappointed, they are old and cynical. Well, I think I have finally crossed that line. Even last year (a year which by everyone’s account was incredibly mild and had little snow) I still got excited whenever it snowed, which even though it was mild, was still a lot more than at home. This winter, by everyone’s account, will not be so forgiving, and so far it has proven to be so.

The first snow of the season (on the lower lands around the lake, it has been in the hills and mountains for a while) was yesterday but was just a dusting that quickly melted. However, as I arose this morning, I found myself mortified looking out the window at about ten inches of snow already on the ground and not far from white-out conditions as the snow fell horizontally. Yikes. It was cold, but not too bad, by the time I got up it was already almost 30 degrees outside, but the wind and stinging snow made my walk to school absolutely miserable. The direction of my walk brought the wind into my into my face exactly; it was so strong and the snow so stinging that I couldn’t even raise my face up and had to continuously look down at the five feet in front of me. Luckily the same wind had intensity (lesser) but not direction for my walk home and so in addition to keeping the snow off my face and myself pretty warm as I walked back, the wind also helped propel me along the slippery way.

Unsurprisingly, outside the yard of a house, snow removal is non-existent and pedestrians are left to wander the roads single file searching for car tracks to trudge along. Often, in the semi-frozen conditions of today’s snow, you are left to step into what is certainly a icy muddy puddle or a fresh snow bank with a mystery at the bottom. The potholes, open manholes, ragged pavement, and uncovered gutters become even more dangerous with the introduction of a concealing layer of fresh powder.

By the time the snow had finally finished this afternoon it lay thick on the ground, up to about a foot and a half in places… That’s a lot of snow for me, more than I have seen in a long time, and I think not much less than the entire quantity we got last year. And while my twenty minute trek to school left me hating life and cursing the cold, once the wind died down and I walked home, I appreciated a little bit that indeed, it was really beautiful outside. So while I can’t say that I am looking forward to this winter, I just have to keep a good attitude and look at the positive sides of this cold and snow- beautiful landscapes and good skiing. Saori, a true hater of the cold though, probably is glad that she’s not here for this one… :o)

(Interesting Post Script: I just looked back through all my entries and apparently last year, the first real snow was on November 11th, just about the same time as this year, and according to that journal entry I was not as excited as I remembered… I guess perhaps even a year ago I was already too jaded to enjoy it.)