The furnace is so delightful..
and since we really can’t go,
best take photos of the very big snow.
(sung to the tune of "Let it snow")
Day: Snow at times heavy and blowing snow ending near noon then cloudy with 60 percent chance of flurries or rain showers. Snowfall amount 10 to 20 cm. Wind northeast 40 km/h gusting to 60 becoming north 60 gusting to 90 early this morning then northwest 30 gusting to 50 this afternoon. High plus 3.
Night: Flurries. Amount 2 to 4 cm. Local blowing snow. Wind northwest 30 km/h gusting to 50 increasing to 50 gusting to 80 this evening. Low minus 6.
It was interesting to listen to the subtle change in the nomenclature used by the weather forecasters in describing the upcoming (now present) storm. As you recall (see prior post) the weather office had mentioned flurries in the forecast that resulted in a snowfall of roughly 5 cm. In the description of this storm, they substituted the word snow in place of flurries. It no longer read a 60% chance of flurries overnight. It now read snow overnight. That makes me wonder…If we got 5 cm when the forecast said flurries, how much would fall when they say ‘snow’.
The snow is definitely blowing, but I can still see the house across the street, as well as the plow that comes down the street. What I can no longer see is the individual wood stacked in the pile out in front of the house. Likewise, when the dogs go outdoors, I can no longer see Isobel (our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) when she hits the drift coming back inside.
Since we have no place to go, we will sit and enjoy the snow. This naturally brings up the question of what do you do with your time on ‘snow days’. In order to understand the answer there are a few things that are worth remembering about how we spend our days in general. First and foremost is that we do not have access to broadcast television. That’s right, we do not have “TV” in our house. That is not to say that we do not have a television, after all, we love to watch movies and Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings is especially good on the big screen. What we lack is a connection to the broadcast television world. We do not own cable (it does not come down our road anyway), we did not purchase a Direct Way dish, and we do not have rabbit ears (that would be external television antennas to the under 30 crowd). Now I realize that the thought of being without television is an anathema to some, but it suits us well, and it frees up our time to do other things that we enjoy. Needless to say, we listen to more radio than I would wager many folks do, and we certainly read. As well, since we cannot find the kind of bread we really like we make it ourselves (roughly two loaves a week). Nancy spends many of her days at the stables so there is not a lot of time on those days for around the house sort of stuff, and that tends to get put off until the weather prevents us from going outside. As for me, since I am new to the Canadian health care system, I have a significant amount of reading to plow through as I get accustom to the different recommendations from the Canadian Preventative Task Force. So, all in all our days are far too full to be spent watching television.
As for today, the most important activity is to capture some video of the storm as well as some photos for all our friends in warm places so you can have a little bit of Canada in your lives.
Day: Snow at times heavy and blowing snow ending near noon then cloudy with 60 percent chance of flurries or rain showers. Snowfall amount 10 to 20 cm. Wind northeast 40 km/h gusting to 60 becoming north 60 gusting to 90 early this morning then northwest 30 gusting to 50 this afternoon. High plus 3.
Night: Flurries. Amount 2 to 4 cm. Local blowing snow. Wind northwest 30 km/h gusting to 50 increasing to 50 gusting to 80 this evening. Low minus 6.
It was interesting to listen to the subtle change in the nomenclature used by the weather forecasters in describing the upcoming (now present) storm. As you recall (see prior post) the weather office had mentioned flurries in the forecast that resulted in a snowfall of roughly 5 cm. In the description of this storm, they substituted the word snow in place of flurries. It no longer read a 60% chance of flurries overnight. It now read snow overnight. That makes me wonder…If we got 5 cm when the forecast said flurries, how much would fall when they say ‘snow’.
The snow is definitely blowing, but I can still see the house across the street, as well as the plow that comes down the street. What I can no longer see is the individual wood stacked in the pile out in front of the house. Likewise, when the dogs go outdoors, I can no longer see Isobel (our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) when she hits the drift coming back inside.
Since we have no place to go, we will sit and enjoy the snow. This naturally brings up the question of what do you do with your time on ‘snow days’. In order to understand the answer there are a few things that are worth remembering about how we spend our days in general. First and foremost is that we do not have access to broadcast television. That’s right, we do not have “TV” in our house. That is not to say that we do not have a television, after all, we love to watch movies and Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings is especially good on the big screen. What we lack is a connection to the broadcast television world. We do not own cable (it does not come down our road anyway), we did not purchase a Direct Way dish, and we do not have rabbit ears (that would be external television antennas to the under 30 crowd). Now I realize that the thought of being without television is an anathema to some, but it suits us well, and it frees up our time to do other things that we enjoy. Needless to say, we listen to more radio than I would wager many folks do, and we certainly read. As well, since we cannot find the kind of bread we really like we make it ourselves (roughly two loaves a week). Nancy spends many of her days at the stables so there is not a lot of time on those days for around the house sort of stuff, and that tends to get put off until the weather prevents us from going outside. As for me, since I am new to the Canadian health care system, I have a significant amount of reading to plow through as I get accustom to the different recommendations from the Canadian Preventative Task Force. So, all in all our days are far too full to be spent watching television.
As for today, the most important activity is to capture some video of the storm as well as some photos for all our friends in warm places so you can have a little bit of Canada in your lives.
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3 comments:
I would sample a 6 pack of the local winter ale or lager, whichever your preference. I'd then work my way to regional fair if the storm continues. But thats just me.
The video looks lovely; the dogs seem to be having a great time! Did Nancy get blown away or was that you just moving the camera out of frame? It's gotten pretty cold here in Texas this past week... I had to wear jeans one day; and, I am wearing my warmer shorts and birkenstocks with a heal strap so my achilles doesn't get too cold. It's rough having to break out the winter gear but we're surviving.
It was the wind and bad camera work. She did not get blow over, but got blown a few feet. The winds topped out at 80 km/hr for our biggest gust. We ended up with more snow overnight so that this morning there were drifts up to 3 feet deep in the driveway. Thankfully someone came to clear out the drive for us (using his tractor mounted snowbloer). I think I will hire him for the winter.
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